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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Ann  Bein 


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oo 


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V 


POINT    AND    PILLOW    LACE 


J crUaU  cf/ht 


'  ( a/JPUUf/y. 


POINT  AND   PILLOW 

LACE 


A    SHORT    ACCOUNT   OF   VARIOUS   KINDS 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN,  AND  HOW 

TO    RECOGNISE    THEM 


By  a.   M.  S. 


LONDON 
JOHN   MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE   STREET 

1899 


ARTS 

UK 


PREFACE 


The  object  of  this  little  book  is  to  supply  to  owners 
and  lovers  of  Lace  some  clear  information  easily 
referred  to,  by  means  of  which  they  can  ascertain  the 
true  name  and  nature  of  any  particular  specimen. 

The  valuable  works  of  which  a  list  is  o-iven  on 
page  xiii,  as  the  authorities  consulted,  are  some  of 
them,  especially  the  late  Mrs.  Palliser's  History  of 
Lace,  almost  exhaustive  as  to  the  historical  records 
on  the  subject,  and  they  also  contain  a  great  deal  of 
interestino-  information  concernincr  the  various  lace 
manufactures.  Yet  the  writer  has  found,  in  common 
she  believes  with  others,  that  a  diligent  search 
through  many  volumes  and  much  inquiry  of  experts 
has  been  necessary  before  some  particular  piece  of 
Lace  could  be  identified,  even  if  in  the  end  that 
identification  did  not  appear  doubtful. 

In  the  present  volume  it  is  hoped  that  the  simple 
statements  distinguishing  the  features  of  each  variety 
will  enable  the  reader  to  recoo-nise  them  readilv, 
especially  as   each  description   is  accompanied   by  an 


vi  PREFACE 

illustration,  on  as  large  a  scale  as  the  size  of  the 
page  will  allow,  so  that  the  texture  of  the  Lace  may 
be  the  more  easily  seen. 

Description  alone,  however  good,  without  illustra- 
tions is  very  insufficient  :  this  will  readily  be  allowed 
by  anyone  who  attempts  the  task  of  explaining  in 
words  the  nature  and  peculiarities  of  any  kind  of 
Lace.  Dr.  Johnson  gives  as  a  definition  of  "  net," 
"a  texture  woven  with  intersticial  vacuities,"  and  of 
"  network,"  "  anything  reticulated  or  decussated,  at 
equal  distances,  with  interstices  between  the  inter- 
sections." Where  the  great  lexicographer  failed  to 
make  his  meaning  more  intelligible  to  simple  folk, 
lesser  mortals  may  well  be  glad  to  eke  out  their 
otherwise  insufficient  explanations  by  the  help  of 
the  photographer. 

One  difticulty  attendant  on  the  study  of  Lace  must 
be  mentioned.  It  is  that  at  various  times  the  same 
kinds  of  Lace  were  made  in  different  localities,  each 
imitatinof  the  other.  Thus  Brussels  and  Alencon 
copied  Venice,  and  Italy  in  turn  adopted  the  "  reseau  " 
ground  in  imitation  of  Flanders  ;  nor  is  the  reason 
far  to  seek.  The  laws  of  supply  and  demand  were  in 
force  three  hundred  vears  aofo  as  now,  and  thouoh  we 
are  apt  to  think  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  before 
the  days  of  railways  and  steamboats,  as  isolated,  yet 


PREFACE  vii 

a  very  cursory  study  of  history  is  enough  to  prove 
that  it  was  far  otherwise.  The  number  of  travellers 
was  no  doubt  much  less  than  at  present,  but  the 
richer  classes  were  socially  in  constant  communication 
with  each  other  everywhere,  as  is  indeed  evidenced 
by  the  prevalence  of  the  same  fashions  in  dress 
throughout  Europe  at  any  given  time.  No  sooner 
did  the  ladies  of  Paris  in  the  time  of  Henry  the 
Eourth  adopt  the  high  ruff,  than  English  ladies  has- 
tened to  do  the  same  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  Pillow 
laces  of  Genoa  were  admired  and  found  suitable  to 
the  falling  collars  of  the  succeeding  reigns,  the  lace- 
workers  of  E^landers  were  quick  in  learning  to 
reproduce  the  style,  in  this  case  so  exactly,  that  but 
little  difference  can  now  be  detected  between  their 
work  and  that  of  the  Italians.  Lace  also  was  largely 
made  in  convents  and  lace-makino-  was  tauo-ht  in 
convent  schools  ;  and  the  fact  that  nuns  were  of  all 
nationalities  helps  to  account  for  the  cosmopolitan 
character  of  the  Art. 

It  will  not  be  attempted  here  to  decide  from  what 
locality  any  particular  Lace  may  have  come,  but 
merely  to  state  on  good  authority  to  what  style  it 
belongs,  and  to  assist  the  reader,  bv  a  careful  de- 
scrlption  of  its  details,  to  judge  for  himself  or  herself 
of  its  character.      Of  all  the  decorative  works  of  Art 


viii  PREFACE 

Lace  is  by  far  the  most  perishable  ;  indeed,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  more  beautiful  the  Lace,  the  more 
delicate  and  more  easily  destroyed  it  is. 

Much  has  disappeared  long  ago,  and  in  the  hands 
of  ignorant  owners  the  little  that  has  lasted  till  now 
is  in  danger  of  being  finally  lost.  If,  therefore,  what 
is  here  written  should  attract  the  notice  of  some  who 
have  taken  but  small  care  of  their  frail  possessions, 
and  have,  without  scruple,  given  them  over  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  dressmaker  who  cuts,  or  the 
washerwoman  who  tears,  and  if  they  should  be  in- 
duced henceforth  to  pay  more  heed  to  these  irre- 
placeable treasures,  the  writer  will  feel  that  she  has 
not  written  in  vain  on  a  subject  which  has  long  been 
one  of  great  interest  to  herself 

She  cannot  send  this  little  book  into  the  world  with- 
out expressing  her  thanks  to  Mr.  Alan  Cole,  of  the 
Science  and  Art  Department,  South  Kensington,  for 
the  help  and  advice  that  he  has  been  good  enough  to 
give  her  on  a  subject  on  which  he  is  so  well-known  an 
authority  ;  also  to  the  kind  friends  to  whom  she  is 
indebted  for  the  loan  of  many  beautiful  specimens  of 
lace  here  represented.  Without  such  assistance  and 
encouragement  her  pleasant  task  might  never  have 
been  accomplished  at  all.  A.   M.   S. 

Ufton  Court,  Jiily^  1899. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface           .               .  .  .  .           .        .  v 

List  of  Illustrations  .  .  .           .        .  xi 

Authorities  Consulted  .  .  ...  xiii 

A  Glossary  of  TER^Ls  .  .  .           .        .  xv 

CHAPTER    I. 
Of  Lace  in  General  .  .  .  .        .        i 

How  to  discriminate  between  Point  and  Pillow  lace — Antiquity  of 
Lace — Chief  centres  of  lace- making  :  Venice,  Flanders  and  Alen^on. 

CHAPTER    n. 

Of  Italian  Needle  Lace  .  .  ...      14 

Styles  and  periods — Drawn -work — Darned -netting — Cut -work — 
Reticella,  or  Greek  Lace — The  uses  to  which  such  linen  Lace  was  jnit. 

CHAPTER    III. 

Of  Italian  Needle  Lace  {confitii/cd)      .  .  .        .      31 

I'unto  in  Aria — Ruffs  —  Pattern  Ijooks — Falling  collars — Extravagance 
in  the  use  of  Lace — Venetian  Points — Three  periods — Raised  Point — 
Flat  Point — Grounded  Venetian  Point — Old  Burano  Point — Revival — 
Spanish  Lace. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Of  Italian  Pillow  Lace  .  .  ...      64 

Knotted  Lace  (Macrame)  — Origin  of  Pillow  lace — Pillow  Guipure — 
Mi.xed  Guipure — Genoese  Lace — Collar  Laces — Plaited  Lace — Punto 
di  Genoa — Punto  di  Milano  — Country  Laces — Maltese  Lace. 

b 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   V. 

I'AOE 

Of  French  Lace  .  .  .  ...      91 

Establishment  of  lace-making  at  Alenfon  by  Colbert — La  Revolte  des 
Passemens — Earliest  Lace  made  at  Alen^on  (Point  de  France) — Three 
styles  of  Alencon  Lace  :  Point  dArgentan— Old  Valenciennes,  Fausse 
and  Vraie — Point  de  Paris — Lille — Chantilly— Blonde. 

CHAPTER   VL 

Of  Flemish  Lace  .  .  .  .  .        .     121 

Earliest  style  Pillow  Guipure — Invention  of  Reseau — Brussels  Lace 
— Method  of  work  — Peculiarities — Styles  — Point  d'Angleterre — Point 
plat  applique  —  Duchesse  —  Brussels  Needle-point — Point  applique 
— Point  de  Gaze — Mechlin,  early  and  later  styles — Binche — Ypres — 
Antwerp — Trolle  Kant. 

CHAPTER   VIL 

Of  English  and  Irish  Laces   .  .  ...     161 

Cut- work — Honiton — Styles  — Buckinghamshire  and  Bedfordshire — 
Irish  Laces  :  Limerick — Carrickmacross — Machine-made  lace. 

A  Summary     .  .  .  .  ...     191 

Index  .  .  .  .  ...     195 


XI 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Portrait  of  the  Princess  Eleonora  of  Mantua,  Pitli  Palace,  Florence, 

by  Porbus  il  Giovane        .  .  .  .  /' 


1.  Details  of  Needle-point  lace 

2.  ,,      of  Pillow  lace 

3.  Mediivval  Drawn-work 

4.  Darned  netting  (lent  by  Mrs.  Lathbury) 

5.  Cut-work 

6.  Reticella  and  Punto  in  Aria 

7.  Raised  Venetian  Point  (South  Kensington  Museum) 

8.  Rose  Point  Venetian  (South  Kensington  Museum) 

9.  Flat  Venetian  Point  (lent  by  Mrs.  Tonge) 

10.  Coraline  Venetian  Point  (lent  by  Mrs.  Norman  Pearson) 

11.  Grounded  Venetian  Point  (lent  by  Mrs.  Tonge) 

12.  Old  Eurano  Point 

13.  Macrame  .... 

14.  Pillow  Guipure     .... 

15.  Mixed  Guipure     .... 

16.  Genoese  Collar  Lace 

17.  Genoese  Tape  Guipure 

18.  Milanese  Pillow  Lace  (lent  by  Mrs.  Lovett  Cameron) 

19.  Italian  Peasant  Lace 

20.  Maltese  Lace        .... 

21.  A  Lappet,  Point  d'Alenc,"on 

22.  Point  d'Alen9on,  (i)  lent  by  Mrs.  Lovett  Cameron;  (2) 

Mowbray 

23.  Point  d'Argentan  (lent  by  Lady  Hunter) 

24.  Old  Valenciennes  (two  specimens) 


lent  by 


'rontispiece 

PAGE 

3 
7 

17 
21 

25 

29 
39 

43 
47 
SI 
54 
57 

65 
69 

73 
77 
79 
83 
85 
89 

93 


Miss 


99 
103 
107 


Xll 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


25.  A  Lappet,  Old  Valenciennes  (lent  by  Lady  Hunter) 

26.  Lille  and  Point  de  Paris       .... 

27.  Chantilly  (lent  by  Lady  Pea;rson) 

28.  Blonde  (lent  by  Mrs.  Turner)  .  .  . 

29.  Flemish  Guipure,  ( i )  lent  by  Lady  Maxwell  Lyte  ; 

(2)  lent  by  Mrs.  Willink 

30.  Point  d'Angleterre  .... 

31.  Point  d'Angleterre  a  brides  (lent  by  Lady  Hunter) 

32.  Brussels  Pillow  lace  :  Point  Plat  apjilique  and  Duchesse    . 

33.  Brussels  Needle-point :  Old  and  Modern 

34.  Brussels  Needle-point  :   Point  de  Gaze 

35.  Early  Mechlin  Pillow  lace 

36.  Later  Mechlin  (two  specimens  ;  No.  2  lent  by  Mrs.  Lathbury) 

37.  Binche  (lent  by  Mrs.  Henry  Reeve)  and  old  Flemish 

38.  Antwerp  Pot  lace  (lent  by  Mrs.  Lathbury) 
Heading  of  page,  Limerick  Lace  (lent  by  Miss  Stroud) 

39.  Old  English  Sampler  (South  Kensington  Museum) 

40.  Honiton  (two  specimens  ;  No.  i  lent  by  Mrs.  Crutwell)     . 

41.  Buckinghamshire    (two   sjiecimens ;    (i)    lent   Ijy   Mrs.   Savill   Y 

(2)  lent  by  Mrs.  Lathbury) 

42.  Old  Lace  Chest  belonging  to  Mrs.  Forrest 

43.  Carrickmacross  Lace 
Tailpiece  :   Old  English  bobbins  belonging  to 

token  belonging  to  Mrs.  Forrest  . 


oung 


Mrs.  Baker  and  a  Lace 


PAGE 
109 

III 

"5 

119 

123 
130 
133 
137 

142 

145 
149 

153 

•55 

159 
161 

163 
169 

174 
178 
185 

190 


Xlll 


AUTHORITIES    CONSULTED 

Alan  Cole,  Ancient  Needle-point  and  Pillow  Lace. 

Brazza,  A  Guide  to  Old  and  New  Lace  in  Italy. 

Catalogue  of  South  Kcjisington  Museum. 

Madame  Despierres,  Histoire  du  Point  d^Alenqo7i. 

Doumert,  La  Detitelle. 

Felkin,  Machine-wrougJit  Lace. 

Lefebure,  Embroidery  and  Lace. 

Mrs.  Palliser,  History  of  Lace. 

Seguin,  La  Dcntclle. 

Mrs.  Treadwin,  Antique  Point  and  Honiton. 

The  "  Queen  "  Lace  Book. 

Urbani  Gheltof,  Trattato  Storico. 


XV 


A   GLOSSARY   OF   TERMS    USED 

Point  lace. — From  the  French  "  point,"  a  stitch — properly  applied 
only  to  Lace  made  with  needle  stitches,  or  Needle-point  lace.  This 
term  has  been  often  much  misapplied.  Neither  "  Point  d'Angleterre," 
nor  "Punto  di  Milano,"  nor  "  Honiton  Point"  are  Point  laces  at  all  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  words ;  they  are  Pillow  lace. 

Pillow  lace,  or  Bone  lace,  or  Dentelle  au  fuseau,  or  Merletti  a 
Piombini,  is  Lace  made  on  the  pillow  with  bobbins ;  hence  the  English, 
French  and  Italian  names,  the  bobbins  being  sometimes  made  of  bone 
or  lead  as  well  as  of  wood. 

Toile'. — The  substance  of  the  pattern  as  contrasted  with  the  ground- 
work. 

Reseau. — The  network  ground  in  which  the  pattern  is  sometimes  set. 

Brides. — The  slender  stalks  or  ties  connecting  different  parts  of  the 
pattern  together  when  not  on  a  net  ground. 

Picots. — The  knots  or  thorns  which  often  decorate  "brides"  and  also 
the  edges  of  the  pattern. 

A  jours. — The  open  ornamental  work  introduced  in  enclosed  spaces. 

Cordonuct. — The  thick  thread  or  cord  with  which  the  pattern  is 
often  outlined. 

Applique  denotes  when  the  pattern,  either  Needlework  or  Pillow,  is 
made  separately  and  afterwards  sewn  on  to  a  net  ground. 

Guipure. — The  cord  or  gimp  sometimes  o\ercast  with  stitches ; 
frequently  used  for  outlining  heavy  Laces.  "Guiper"  is  an  old  verb, 
meaning  to  roll  round  a  cord.  The  term  "  Guipure "  has  often  been 
wrongly  applied  to  various  kinds  of  Lace.  It  is  here  used  to  denote 
only  Lace  of  which  the  pattern  consists  of  a  cord  or  tape  connected 
by  "  brides." 


POINT  AND  PILLOW  LACE 

CHAPTER   I. 

OF    LACE    IN    GENERAL. 

The  English  word  Lace  is  taken  from  the  French 
"  Lacis,"  a  term  however,  which,  w^hen  properly  used, 
denotes  only  the  Italian  work  "  Punto  a  maglia,"  or 
Darned  netting. 

There  are  two  distinct  kinds  of  Hand -made  lace  ; 
first,  Lace  made  with  the  needle,  that  is.  Needle-point 
lace,  under  which  heading  the  above  -  mentioned 
Darned  netting  may  be  included,  and  secondly, 
Lace  made  on  a  pillow  with  bobbins,  that  is,  Pillow 
lace. 

Machine-made  lace  will  be  treated  of  in  a  separate 
section  later  on,  and  is  not  now  therefore  taken  into 
account. 

In  order  to  distinguish  between  Needle-point  and 
Pillow  lace,  and  to  decide  to  which  of  the  two 
classes    any    particular    specimen    belongs,    both    the 

B 


2  OF    LACE    IN    GENERAL 

"toil^"*  or  solid  part  of  the  pattern  and  also  the 
grounding,  whether  of  "  brides  "  or  of  network,  should 
be  closely  examined. 

In  Needle-point  lace  the  solid  parts  are  always 
made  of  rows  of  looped,  or  so-called  button -hole 
stitches,  sometimes  quite  closely  worked,  as  in  the 
specimen  given  in  Fig.  i,  Illustration  I.,  sometimes 
looser  or  with  small  open  spaces  left  in  patterns;  still 
the  stitch  used  is  always  the  same. 

The  "brides"  in  Needle-point  consist  of  one  or 
two  threads  fastened  across  from  one  part  of  the 
pattern  to  another  and  then  closely  whipped  or 
button-holed  over ;  they  are  usually  more  or  less 
decorated  with  "  picots,"  made  much  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  "bride"  itself.  {See  Fig.  5,  Illustra- 
tion  I.) 

But  Needle-point  is  also  sometimes  grounded  with 
"  reseau "  or  network,  and  still  this  when  examined 
will  be  found  to  be  made  with  the  same  stitch.  The 
meshes  of  the  network  are  merely  loose  looped 
stitches  ;  sometimes  the  needle  is  twisted  a  second 
time  in  each  stitch  to  keep  the  mesh  open,  as  in 
F^ig.  2,  Illustration  I.  ;  sometimes  the  work  is 
strengthened  with  a  second  thread,  which  is  whipped 

*  For  an  explanation  of  all  technical  terms  used  throughout  this 
book  see  Glossary,  p.  xv. 


Illustration  I. 
DETAILS  OF  NEEDLE-POINT  LACE, 

MAGNIFIED. 


SS^ 

m 


ilij 


1^  Wm 


v^^ 


I.  Toile  of  Needle-point.  2.   Reseau  of  Brussels  Point. 

3.   Reseau  of  Alencon  Point.  4.  Reseau  of  Argentan  Point. 

5.   Unfinished  specnnen  of  Cut-work  or  Reticella. 


DETAILS  OF  NEEDLE  AXD  PILLOW  LACE     5 

over  all  along  the  row  at  the  base  of  the  meshes,  as 
In  Fig.  3,  Illustration  I. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  thouorh  other  stitches 
were  employed  in  the  earlier  linen  lace-work,  such 
as  Drawn-work,  Cut- work  and  Reticella  (see  Fig.  5, 
Illustration  I.),  yet  for  true  Needle-point  lace,  with 
all  its  beautiful  varieties  of  desion  and  ornament, 
one  stitch  alone  sufficed,  naniely,  what  we  have  called 
the  looped  or  button-hole  stitch,  in  Italian  ''  Punto 
a  festone." 

Pillow  lace,  when  carefullv  examined,  will  be 
found  to  be  constructed  in  a  fundamentally  different 
manner.  The  "  toile  "  will  in  every  case  be  seen  to 
be  composed  of  threads  crossing  each  other  more  or 
less  at  right  angles,  and  in  and  out  like  the  texture 
of  cambric  or  other  woven  cloth.  This  is  shown  in 
Fig.  I,  Illustration  II. 

The  "  brides,"  when  made  on  the  pillow,  consist 
of  twisted  or  plaited  threads,  and  the  "  picots "  of 
simple  loops  ;  it  should,  however,  be  remarked  that 
"brides"  w^orked  with  the  needle  are  often  added 
to  Pillow-made  lace,  which  is  then  called  "  Mixed 
lace,"  and  in  that  case  they  will  be  seen  to  be  made 
of  button-hole  stitch  as  above  described. 

The  "  reseau "  work  of  Pillow  lace  is  much  more 
varied    than    that    of    Needle-point  ;     the    specimens 


6  OF   LACE    IN    GENERAL 

given  in  Illustration  II.  by  no  means  exhaust  all  the 
varieties,  though  the  peculiar  "  reseaux  "  of  the  best- 
known  Laces  are  there  o-iven.  Thev  will  be  described 
in  connection  with  each  kind  later  on.  It  is  sufficient 
here  to  say  that  in  all  Pillow  lace  the  network  is  made 
by  twisting  and  plaiting  the  threads,  sometimes  in 
twos  and  sometimes  in  fours,  as  the  case  may  be. 
Thus,  roughly  speaking,  the  broad  difference  between 
Point  and  Pillow  lace  is  that  the  first  is  worked 
throughout  w^th  looped  stitches,  and  the  second  is 
made  with  twisted  or  plaited  threads,  which  last  is  in 
fact  weavino-  though  the  work  is  done  with  the  hands 
and  bobbins  and  not  with  the  loom.  Theoretically  the 
difference  as  here  stated  is  very  simple,  yet  it  must 
be  allowed  that  practically  in  the  case  of  very  fine 
Lace  it  is  not  always  at  first  sight  easy  of  detection, 
and  for  a  beginner  at  all  events  it  may  be  often 
difficult  to  recoQ-nise  the  above-described  details 
except  with  the  aid  of  a  magnifying  glass ;  when 
once  these  are  seen,  however,  it  should  be  easy  for 
anyone  to  make  the  distinction  between  Pillow  and 
Needle-point  lace,  and  also,  following  the  further 
descriptions  given  later  on,  to  identify  any  special 
specimen.  What  has  been  said  above  does  not 
apply  to  Darned  netting,  which,  being  usually 
coarse,  does  not  require  special  description  here. 


Illustration  II. 
DETAILS    OP   PILLOW-LACE, 

MAGNIFIED. 


,  ...t.lfi 


m 


0. 


I.    Toile  of  Pillow-lace.  2.  Open  Toile  of  Brussels  Pillow-lace. 

3.    Rt'seau  of  trussels  Pillow-lace.  4.  Reseau  of  Mechlin. 

6.  Reseau  of  I.ille. 

8.  Reseau,   called  "Fond  Chanl"  or 
7  •'  Point  de  Paris." 


5.    Reseau,  called  "  Cinq  Trous." 
7.    Reseau  of  \'alenciennes. 


ANTIQUITY   OF   LACE  9 

Having  been  able,  with  some  confidence,  to  identify 
any  particular  specimen,  whether  it  is  Point  or  Pillow 
lace,  or  Venetian,  French  or  F'lemish  in  style,  the 
further  question  is  often  asked,  "  How  old  do  you 
think  that  piece  of  Lace  is  ?  " 

There  are  several  indications  that  will  help  to 
answer  that  inquiry.  We  know  of  certain  styles  of 
Lace  that  they  were  invented  at  a  certain  time,  and 
that  they  were  worn  during  certain  periods,  and  in 
this  connection  contemporary  portrait  art  is  of  great 
service  and  interest.  Moreover,  it  is  generally  found 
to  be  the  case  that  the  style  of  design  at  each  centre 
of  the  lace-makinor  art  went  through  a  definite  and 
very  easily  traced  course  of  development.  The  Lace 
made  at  Alen^on  or  Mechlin  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  for  instance,  was  very  noticeably  different  in 
the  style  of  the  patterns  from  what  was  produced 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  it  was  the  same  else- 
where. In  fact  the  same  laws  seem  to  have 
governed  Art  in  every  direction,  and  as  Architecture 
passed  through  various  styles  which  can  be  recog- 
nised and  apportioned  to  different  periods,  so  also 
in  its  degree  did  the  Art  of  lace-making. 

In   the   illustrations   given  further  on  the  carefully 

selected     representative     collection     of     the     various 

styles  will,   it   is  hoped,   be   found  useful    in  assisting 
c 


lo  OF   LACE    IN    GENERAL 

the  student  to  classify  any  Lace  that  may  come  under 
notice. 

Yet  the  matter,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  somewhat 
complicated  by  the  fact  that  some  styles  of  Lace 
continued  to  be  produced  during  long  periods  of 
time,  even  after  later  fashions  were  developed. 
Cut-work  in  particular  was  made  with  very  little, 
if  any,  change  in  the  style  of  design  during  two 
or  even  three  centuries  ;  and  in  the  case  of  the 
simpler  kinds  of  Pillow  lace,  the  parchment  patterns 
on  which  it  was  made  were  often  treasured  and 
handed  down  from  one  generation  of  lace -workers 
to  another  ;  one  family,  from  mother  to  daughter, 
confining  themselves  to  working  a  few  patterns  only, 
which  they  naturally  continued  to  make  as  long  as 
there  was  a  demand  for  them.  This  is  the  case  at 
the  present  day  with  the  manufacture  of  modern 
Valenciennes  at  Ypres  and  in  the  neighbourhood. 
But  with  these  exceptions  a  study  of  the  construction 
and  style  of  design  of  any  particular  piece  of  Lace 
should  afford  a  fair  indication  of  the  date  of  its 
production. 

No  indication  has  been  left  us  to  show  that  what 
we  now  call  Lace  was  known  at  all  in  Greek  and 
Roman  times,  and  it  is  rather  curious  that  the  fable 
of  Arachne  turned  into  a  spider  because  she  rivalled 


EARLIEST    RECORDS  ii 

Athene  in  the  delicacy  of  her  needlecraft  should 
have  been  invented,  when  no  such  work'  as  could  be 
said  to  approach  to  the  fineness  of  a  spider's  web 
was  practised  till  so  many  centuries  later. 

Lace,  as  we  now  understand  it,  belongs,  like  music, 
essentially  to  modern  times  ;  and  taking"  into  account 
its  extreme  fragility,  it  may  be  said  that  probably  no 
Lace  now  existino-  is  older  than  three  hundred  years, 
and  that  but  little  of  such  fine  or  open  Lace  as  can  be 
used  for  articles  of  dress  is  more  than  two  hundred 
years  old. 

The  earliest  supposed  record  existing  of  its  practice 
is  in  a  picture  by  Ouintin  Matsys  in  the  church  of 
St.  Peter  Lou  vain  (date  1495),  in  which  a  girl  is 
represented  working  at  a  lace-pillow,  though  it  is  not 
possible  to  identify  the  kind  of  Lace  upon  which  she 
is  engaged.  Until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  is  before  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in 
England  at  all  events,  Lace  as  applied  to  dress  does 
not  appear  at  all  in  the  portraits  of  the  day.  The 
ladies  of  Henry  the  Eighth's  court,  painted  by 
Holbein,  wore  plain  linen  head-dresses  and  un- 
trimmed  frills  at  the   neck  and  wrists. 

It  is  interesting-  in  our  National  Portrait  Gallery 
to  be  able  to  see  almost  the  exact  time  of  the 
introduction     of    this     beautiful    Art.      Oueen     Mary 


12  OF   LACE    IN    GENERAL 

Tudor,  as  there  represented,  though  handsomely 
dressed,  wears  hnen  cuffs  embroidered  but  bare  of 
Lace,  not  yet  then  in  use,  but  in  the  picture  next  to 
her  in  date,  already  a  little  lace  edging  appears 
round  the  ruff,  and  in  the  portraits  of  Elizabeth 
and  her  courtiers  ruffs  and  Lace  tooether  have  orown 
rampant. 

And  if  we  cannot  attribute  a  very  early  date  for 
the  invention  of  the  Art  of  lace-making,  neither  was 
it  in  its  perfection  of  long  duration  ;  it  suffered  much 
from  the  rage  for  simplicity  born  of  the  doctrines  of 
J.  J.  Rousseau  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  was 
practically  extinguished  by  the  troubles  of  the  French 
Revolution  and  by  the  classical  fashions  in  dress 
which  succeeded  them  under  the  Empire. 

In  France  the  manufacture  of  rich  Needle  lace 
has  to  some  extent  recovered  itself.  Within  the 
last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  also  great  efforts  have 
been  made  to  revive  the  Art  in  Venice,  and  schools 
have  been  established  in  the  island  of  Burano  in  the 
neigfhbourhood.  hi  Belo'ium  neither  needle  nor 
pillow  lace-making  were  ever,  even  in  war  time, 
altogether  discontinued,  but  the  character  of  the 
Lace  has  been  essentially  altered.  Owing  also  to 
the  increased  cost  of  labour,  such  modern  Lace 
naturally  commands  very  high  prices,  and  nowadays 


CENTRES   OF   LACE-MAKIXG  13 


J 


when  the  o-enius  of  the  inventor  has  so  marvellouslv 
perfected  the  achievements  of  steam  machinery  in 
hice-makino"  and  when  such  Lace  can  be  bouo;ht  at 
astonishingly  low  prices,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  expected 
that  anv  real  or  considerable  revival  of  the  Art  should 
take  place.  All  the  more,  since  the  exquisite  work 
of  former  ages  is  thus  practically  irreplaceable,  must 
we  value  such  of  it  as  has  been  preserved  to  us, 
with  the  interest  of  antiquarians,  as  well  as  on  ac- 
count of  its  intrinsic  beauty. 

The  chief  centres  of  Needle  lace  -  making  were 
Venice,  Brussels  and  Alencon.  Of  Spanish-point, 
so  called,  some  may  have  been  made  in  Spain,  most 
however  that  goes  by  that  name  was  certainly 
Venetian.  The  Greek  Lace,  which  is  a  Cut-work  ot 
geometrical  desio'n,  thouoh  it  has  often  been  bouijht 
in  the  Ionian  Islands,  was  also  probably  Italian. 

Pillow  laces  of  some  sort  were,  at  some  time  or 
another,  made  all  over  Europe,  but  nowhere  else  did 
they  attain  to  such  beauty  as  in  Flanders,  where, 
accordino-  to  some,  the  Art  was  invented. 

Of  Italian  laces  there  are  both  Needle-point  and 
Pillow.  The  former  take  the  precedence  in  date  and  also 
in  point  of  beauty;  the  latter  came  chiefly  from  Genoa 
and  the  districts  in  North  Italy,  as  also  the  varieties 
of  knotted  and  plaited  Laces  to  be  described  later  on. 


Rt'ticella. 


CHAPTER    II. 

OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE. 

In  point  of  design  Italian  Lace  may  be  classed  under 
four  styles :  the  Mediaeval,  the  Geometrical,  the 
Renaissance,  and  the  Rococo.  Such  as  belono-s  to 
the  two  first  was  for  the  most  part  worked  out  of 
linen  and  often  combined  with  embroidery.  The 
material  spun  with  the  old-world  clistafT,  as  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  country  districts  in  Italy,  and  woven 
under  no  great  pressure  of  haste  on  hand-looms  in  the 
convent  or  the  cottage,  was  far  superior  to  anything 
that  can  be  now  procured  in  purity  and  strength. 
It  was  unmixed  with  cotton,  that  cheaper  substance 
which  so  detracts  from  the  durability  and  quality  of 
our  modern   linen    manufactures.      The   specimens   of 

14 


STYLES   OF    ITALIAN    LACE  15 

church  and  household  hnen  preserved  to  the  present 
day  bear  sufficient  testimony  to  the  good  workman- 
ship of  the  weaver  and  the  excellence  of  his  materials. 

The  Lace  included  under  the  above-mentioned 
two  earlier  styles,  namely,  the  IMedieeval  and  the 
Geometrical,  are  Drawn-work,  Cut-work,  Reticella  or 
so-called  Greek  Lace,  and  Lacis  or  Darned  nettino-. 
They  were  produced  chiefly  during  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  third  or  Renaissance  style  expressed  itself  in 
flowing  patterns  of  scroll  work,  and  in  a  conventional 
treatment  of  flowers  and  other  objects.  The  Lace 
was  worked  entirely  without  a  linen  foundation.  Of 
this  description  are  all  the  most  beautiful  achieve- 
ments of  the  Art  in  Italv  durino-  the  seventeenth 
century,  namely,  the  splendid  \^enetian  and  so-called 
Spanish-points. 

Lastly  came  the  Rococo  style,  when  boldness  and 
beauty  of  design  were  sacrificed  to  complexity  of  detail. 
and  when  natural  objects,  and  especially  flowers,  were 
represented  with  small  regard  to  symmetry  or  unitv 
of  composition,  but  often  also  with  marvellous  skill 
and  fidelity.  The  Lace  produced  during  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  this  style,  in  spite 
of  an  overflowinof  redundancv  of  ornament,  must  still 
challenge  admiration  by  the  beauty  and  ingenuitv  of 


i6  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

the  execution  ;  but  these  merits  rapidly  disappeared, 
and  the  Rococo  Lace  of  a  later  period  became  coarse 
and  inferior  in  workmanship,  while  the  patterns 
dwindled  to  stiff  and  disconnected  ornaments,  sparsely 
set  in  a  "  reseau  "  Q-round. 

After  this  general  account  of  the  styles,  as  they 
succeeded  each  other,  the  laces  themselves  may  be 
separately  described. 

PUNTO     TIRATO. 

{E?ii^.  Drawn-work.) 

This  Lace  is  one  of  the  earliest  in  point  of  date, 
and  may  be  said  to  be  the  ori^jin  out  of  which  all 
future  lace- work  grew.  It  is  made  entirely  out  of  a 
loose  linen  material,  the  threads  of  which  are  not  cut 
or  pulled  out,  but  merely  drawn  apart  from  each  other 
and  closely  sewn  over,  either  with  silk  or  linen  thread, 
thus  having  the  appearance  of  a  network  of  small 
square  meshes,  which  forms  the  ground  of  the  pattern 
left  in  the  plain  linen.  The  design  thus  grounded 
was  of  necessity  angular,  but  occasionally  this 
angularity  is  corrected  by  means  of  a  silk  or  linen 
thread  embroidered  like  a  "cordonnet"  along  the  out- 
line on  the  surface  of  the  work.  The  whole  is 
usually  in  the  form  of  bands,  four  or  five  inches 
wide,  edged  with  a  border  of  the  linen  embroidered. 


o 


V. 


o 

H 

o 

o 


I) 


17 


DARNED    NETTING  19 

The  subjects  of  the  desi<>'ns  are  often  extremely 
quaint — horses,  dogs,  birds,  besides  mythical  animals, 
were  most  ambitiously  attempted,  as  is  shown  in 
Illustration  III.  The  frequency  with  which  repre- 
sentations especially  of  horses  occur  reminds  one 
that  they  are  to  this  day  the  favourite  subject  of 
popular  Art  in  Venice,  where  the  real  animal  can  never 
be  seen,  and  suggests  a  Venetian  origin  to  these 
designs.  But  w^ork  of  the  kind  was  also  extensively 
produced  in  Spain,  and  here  the  designs  chosen  were 
usually  Oriental  in  character,  heavy  scrolls  and  ara- 
besques suggesting  the  influence  of  Moorish  taste. 
In  the  Greek  islands  also  this  work  seems  to  have 
been  made,  and  in  this  case  with  strictly  classical 
patterns,  survivals,  no  doubt,  of  early  Byzantine  tra- 
ditions. Much  the  same  effect  was  accomplished  by 
means  of  another  kind  of  early  Needle- work  lace 
named — 

PUNTO    RICAMATO   A    MAGLIA   QUADRA. 

{F}'.  Lacis,  Eiig.  Darned  netting.) 

But  in  this  work  the  ground  is  supplied  by  a 
netting  of  either  silk  or  linen  thread,  made  with 
knots  in  the  usual  way  or  sometimes  with  threads 
only  twisted.  The  pattern  is  worked  on  the  netting 
with  a  stitch  like  darning,  and  also  as  a  variety  with 


20  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE   LACE 

an  in-and-out  stitch  like  weaving.  It  appears  to 
have  been  much  in  use  for  church  work  for  sacred 
emblems,  as  the  lamb  and  the  pelican  are  often  met 
with,  as  w^ell  as  dragons  and  terrible  imaginary- 
beasts  of  all  sorts.  (See  Illustration  \V.)  The  work 
remained  long  in  favour,  and  in  later  times  really 
beautiful  scroll-like  patterns  in  the  Renaissance  style 
w^ere  so  executed.  In  the  South  Kensington  Museum 
Collection  there  are  several  very  gracefully  designed 
borders  to  silk  table-covers  in  this  work,  made  both 
of  white  and  coloured  threads  and  of  silk  of  various 
shades.  It  is,  indeed,  surprising  to  see  what  an 
extremely  good  effect  is  thus  produced  by  very 
simple  means,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  when 
this  work  was  revived  a  little  while  ago  under  the 
rather  inappropriate  name  of  "  Guipure  d'Art,"  such 
very  poor  patterns  should  have  been  preferred  to 
those  of  the  beautiful  Italian  work  of  the  kind  in 
existence.  This  work  has  a  special  interest,  because 
it  introduced  into  the  Art  of  lace-making  the  principle 
of  the  looped  stitch,  wdiich  is  the  common  foundation 
of  all  netting  and  also  of  all  Needle-point  lace-work. 


Illusiration  IV 


Darned  netting,  or 


runlo  licaniato  a  niaglia  quadra. 


21 


EMBROIDERED    NEEDLE-LACE  23 

PUNTO   TAGLIATO 

{Fr.   Point-coupe,  Eui^.  Cut--\vork) 

is  an  advance  on  Drawn- work.  It  is  made  by  cutting 
squares  or  rectangular  spaces  out  of  the  linen  and 
tillino-  them  with  needle  stitches  worked  on  trans- 
verse  threads.  In  this  work  the  patterns  are 
geometrical,  but  they  are  varied  by  the  rich  em- 
broidery generally  worked  on  such  plain  spaces  of 
the  linen  as  were  left.  The  peculiar  character  of 
this  embroiderv  should  be  noticed,  as  shown  in 
Illustration  V.  ;  the  threads  composing  it  are  always 
laid  parallel  to  either  the  woof  or  warp  of  the 
linen  foundation,  they  are  never,  as  in  modern  satin 
stitch,  worked  diagonally,  nor  is  any  padding  ever 
used  underneath  the  embroidery  to  raise  it. 

The  construction  of  this  kind  of  Needle  lace  will 
be  easily  seen  in  the  unfinished  specimen  given  in 
Illustration  I.,  Fig.  5.  It  will  be  found  to  consist  of 
three  different  stitches,  a  looped  button-hole  stitch, 
a  close-sewn  rope  stitch  covering  one  or  two  threads, 
and  an  in-and-out  stitch  over  two  or  four  threads, 
called  in  Italian  "  Punto  di  Genoa."  These  stitches 
are  used  in  Lace  worked  out  of  linen,  such  as  Cut- 
work  and  Reticella,  and  should  be  carefully  noticed 
and  understood  if  the  beautiful  work  so  called  is  to  be 


24  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE   LACE 

properly  appreciated.     Cut-work,  as  well  as  Reticella, 
is  often  misnamed  Greek  Lace. 


RETICELLA,    OR   GREEK   LACE. 

This  Lace  differs  from  Cut-work  in  that  though  it 
also  is  worked  out  of  a  linen  foundation,  the  linen 
has  almost  entirely  disappeared ;  a  narrow,  double 
hemstitched  edge  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  band 
of  Lace  is  all  that  is  discoverable.  The  threads  left 
as  the  framework  of  the  pattern,  dividing  it  into 
square  spaces,  are  covered  closely  with  stitches,  and 
the  rest  of  the  material  is  altogether  cut  away.  Into 
these  squares  are  introduced  diagonal  lines  and  circles 
and  half  circles  formino-  verv  beautiful  and  intricate 
combinations,  and  enriched  with  patterns  in  solid 
needlework  edged  with  "  picots."  This  Lace  is 
frequently  called  "  Greek  Lace,"  principally  owing 
to  the  fact  that  during-  the  English  occupation  of 
the  Ionian  Islands  a  great  deal  of  it  was  found  there 
and  bought  by  English  visitors.  There  seems  little 
doubt  that  it  was  both  made  and  largely  used  in 
Corfu  and  the  neiohbourino-  islands,  but  it  is  never- 
theless  undoubtedly  Italian  and  not  Greek  in  its  style 
and  oricrin.  It  must  be  remembered  that  durino-  the 
time  of  its  production  these  Greek  islands  were  in 
the   possession   of   the   Venetian    Republic,    colonised 


Illustration  V. 


|'\^  ■    m 

■^      ^^^^1        'ft^^'i 

§^''-:^H^yi 

1    J!^ii^ 

livi# 

1  ■  ■-■m       "' ' 

I               '-'> 

^I'  ^' 

1                      :-  ;<^*' 

•^'  -V 

■                             -'  'lb-- 

>x:  - 

|«MM      '  " 

•^^^-      «Kl 

1  ^^*!f 

m'*^  ■'" 

Cut-work,  or  Punto  tagliata. 


25 


GOLD    AND    SILVKR    LACE  27 

by  Venetians  and  in  constant  communication  with 
the  mother  city  ;  it  is  not  therefore  surprisini;'  that 
this  ItaHan  Lace  should  have  been  imported,  imitated 
and  have  become  naturahsed  there.  At  any  rate 
there  is  no  distinctive  character  either  of  pattern  or 
execution  by  which  the  Lace,  even  though  bought  in 
the  Ionian  Islands,  can  be  distinguished  from  Italian 
Reticella. 

The  Needlework  laces  of  different  kinds  described 
in  this  chanter,  thouo-h  in  use  durini)-  the  fifteenth 
and  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  were  not 
employed  for  decoration  of  dress.  It  is  true  that  of 
Lace  so  used  mention  is  found  in  records  datino"  as  far 
back  as  the  coronation  of  Richard  the  Third,  but  such 
Lace  seems  to  have  been  of  silk  or  of  gold  or  silver, 
and  would  be  what  we  should  now  call  braid.  It  may 
be  remarked  that  the  word  Lace  has  survived  to  the 
present  day  in  this  sense,  the  gold  and  silver  braid 
now  used  for  uniforms  being  still  so  called. 

Cut-work  and  other  linen  Laces  were  used  to 
decorate  church  and  household  linen  of  e\'ery  kind. 
During  the  long  leisure  of  convent  life  skilful  hands 
were  continually  employed  in  providing  for  the 
adornment  of  church  furniture  with  needlework  both 
of  silk  and  linen  thread,  and  almost  universall)-  in 
well-to-do   households   the   ladies   of  the   family   took 


28  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

pride  in  seeing  that  their  household  Hnen  was  orna- 
mented in  the  same  manner.  Tablecloths,  sheets, 
pillow-cases  and  towels  made  usually  of  home-spun 
linen  were  worked  with  borders  of  this  kind,  a 
practice  which,  as  is  well  know^n,  has  continued, 
especially  on  the  Continent,  till  within  the  present 
century.  All  this,  however,  now  belongs  to  the 
past ;  the  Lace  has  been  bought  up  by  the  ubiquitous 
modern  tourist  after  having"  been  cut  off  in  strips, 
for  sale,  from  the  linen  out  of  which  it  was  made, 
and  but  little  of  it  now  remains  in  its  original  con- 
dition to  explain  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  worked. 
Yet  the  linen-made  Laces  of  Reticella  and  Cut-work 
are  singularly  well  suited  for  the  decoration  of 
table  and  especially  of  church  linen,  and  it  is  surpris- 
ing that  among  all  the  many  modern  sorts  of  fancy- 
work  these  have  not  found  more  frequent  imitators. 
The  stitches  are,  as  has  been  said,  very  simple,  and 
the  work  is  not  too  fine  for  ordinarily  good  eyesight. 
The  Lace  when  completed  is  so  good  and  rich  in 
effect,  and  so  strong  for  wear,  that  it  can  but  be 
wished  that  fashion  will  some  day  inspire  industrious 
and  neat-fingered  English  needlewomen  to  emulate 
the  beautiful  performances  of  Italian  ladies  of  the 
sixteenth   century. 


Illustration'   \'l. 


Keticella  wiih   I'unto  in   Aria  border. 


29 


I'unto  in  Aria. 


CHAPTER    III. 


OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE. 

{CondinitJ.) 

A  TIME  came  when  the  restraints  imposed  on  clesio-n 
by  the  linen  foLindation  were  found  to  be  irksome, 
and  it  occurred  to  some  innovator  to  cHspense  with 
it  altogether  and  to  construct  the  pattern  on  threads 
fastened  on  parchment  in  any  form  that  fancy  might 
dictate.  This  was  the  beginning  of  "  Punto  in  Aria," 
literally  "stitches  in  the  air";  that  is,  without  any 
foundation  of  linen  ;  and  it  was  by  development  of 
this  principle  that  all  ihc  subsequent  beautilul  Needle- 
points of  Italy  were  made. 

At    first    p^eometrical    forms,    which    had    been    of 
necessity   in   Cut-work,   were  still  adhered   to,   though 

31 


32  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

a  greater  variety  of  ornament  was  found  possible. 
Then  a  pointed  edge  was  worked  on  threads  laid 
down  in  the  required  shape,  and  the  spaces  were  filled 
in  with  patterns  of  solid  or  open-work  loop  stitch- 
ing executed  in  an  excellent  manner,  and  "■  brides 
picotees "  were  added  to  connect  and  strengthen 
the  parts. 

A  specimen  is  shown  in  Illustration  VL  of  two 
squares  of  Reticella  with  "  Punto  in  Aria"  Vandykes 
attached.  The  Reticella  will  be  seen  to  be  bordered 
bv  a  narrow  double  line  of  hemstitch,  showino-  that 
it  is  worked  out  of  a  piece  of  linen  ;  but  the 
Vandyke  is  independent  of  such  foundation.  The 
open  Medicis  ruff  and  the  cuffs  worn  by  the  little 
Princess  of  Mantua,  as  seen  in  the  frontispiece, 
are  of  the  same  kind,  namely,  a  band  of  Reticella 
edo'ed  with  the  "  Punto  in  Aria  "  vandvkes.  The 
date  of   the  picture  is  about    1600. 

This  introduction  of  "Punto  in  Aria"  marks  a 
very  considerable  development  in  the  uses  to  which 
Lace  was  applied.  No  sooner  did  this  new  style 
of  Lace  appear,  as  we  may  judge  Irom  the  portraits  of 
the  day,  than  it  seems  to  have  taken  the  world 
of  fashion  by  storm.  Plain  linen  collars  and  head- 
dresses were  releo-ated  to  widows  and  waitino^-maids, 
and    Reticella,    hitherto    onlv    found    serviceable    for 


ELIZABETHAN    KUFFS  53 

coarse  table-linen,  was,  in  combination  with  the  new 
edging,  and  worked  in  fine  lawn,  lavished  upon  cuffs 
and  aprons  and  the  ruffs  that  grew  to  the  preposterous 
dimensions  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  the  pictures 
of  Oueen  Elizabeth  and  her  courtiers.  These  were 
worn  both  round  and  also  of  the  open  shape  shown 
in  the  frontispiece  ;  both  shapes  seem  to  have  been 
in  fashion  together,  judging  by  the  well-known 
picture  by  Marc  Gerrardo  representing  the  state 
progress  of  the  Queen  on  her  way  to  pay  a  visit 
to  Lord  Hunsdon,  and  in  which  she  is  surrounded 
bv  the  ladies  and  crentlemen  of  her  court,  the  former 
wearing  some  one  shaped  ruff  and  some  another. 
This  picture  was  engraved  by  \ertue.  and  is  of 
great  interest  as  a  record  of  the  costumes  of  the 
time. 

Of  Queen  Elizabeth's  ruffs  much  mention  is  made 
in  the  lists  of  new  year's  gifts  that  she  was  in  the 
habit  of  receivino-  from  her  courtiers.  Besides  orold 
and  jewellery  from  the  gentlemen,  and  embroideries, 
silks,  and  gifts  of  all  sorts  from  the  ladies,  these 
latter  presented  her  yearly  with  "  ruftes  with  rabatines 
of  lawne  cut-work  "  and  sets  of  cuffs,  both  made  and 
unmade ;  sometimes  the  "  lawne  cut-work "  was  set 
with  seed  pearls,  and  sometimes  edged  with  gold,  or 
silver,  or    Bone,  that   is,   Pillow  lace,      b'or   the  ruffs, 

F 


34  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

one  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  skill  of  the  starcher 
who,  even  with  the  aid  of  a  wire  frame,  could  stiffen 
so  large  a  surface  of  such  delicate  materials  so  as  to 
make  them  retain  the  required  shape  even  for  a  few 
hours  of  a  damp  English  day.  But  it  is  on  this 
account  that  we  have  now  to  depend  almost  entirely 
on  the  pictorial  art  ior  our  information  about  them, 
vStarch  and  constant  wear  have  been  too  much  for 
the  fine  "  lawne  cut-work,"  and  lace-trimmed  ruffs 
have,  with  scarcely  any  exception,  long  since  perished 
with  their  wearers. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  the  large  collection  of 
pattern  books  which  have  been  preserved  to  us  from 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  are  of  great 
interest.  They  became  possible  after  the  art  of 
printing  became  popular,  and  they  range  in  point 
of  date  from  the  Lirrc  noiivemt,  published  in  Cologne 
in  1527,  to  the  JMcthode  poiLr  faire  uiic  injinitc^  de 
desseins  pa?-  le  Rev.  Fere  Sebastien  Truchet,  published 
in  Paris  in   1722, 

A  list  of  these  books,  preserved  in  various 
European  libraries,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Appendix 
to  Mrs,  Palliser's  History  of  Lace.  A  few  original 
copies  are  in  the  National  Art  Library,  South 
Kensington,  and  a  considerable  number  of  such  as 
were    of    Venetian     origin     have     been    recently    re- 


PATTERN    BOOKS  35 

produced  in  modern  facsimile  editions  by  that 
energetic  publisher,  Signor  Oncagnia,  of  Venice. 
These  can  be  seen  and  studied  in  the  library  of 
the  British  ^luseum,  so  that  this  interesting  subject 
is  now  brought  within  easy  reach  of  the  English 
student. 

The  earliest  of  these  books  refer  to  embroidery  in 
ofold  and  silver  and  silks,  as  well  as  in  thread.  In 
1548,  one  published  in  Venice  by  ]yIathio  Pagan,  // 
specchio  di  pensieri  delle  belle  e  virtiidiose  donne 
("the  mirror  of  the  thoughts  of  beautiful  and 
virtuous  ladies"),  gives  patterns  of  "  punti  tagliati," 
"  punti  gropposi  e  punti  in  Stuora " —  Cut-work, 
Knotted-work,  and  Embroidered  netting.  Ten  years 
later,  in  155S,  the  same  author  brought  out  La  gloria 
et  r  honor  c  di  punti  tagliati  c  punti  in  acre  ("  the  glory 
and  the  honour  of  Cut-work  and  Open-work").  And 
this  allusion  to  "  punto  in  Aria ''  is  very  interesting  as 
fixing  the  date  of  the  introduction  of  so  important 
an  innoxation  in  lace-making. 

The  early  style  of  these  patterns  is  narrow  and 
wiry,  corresponding  closely  to  the  edgings  ot  the 
frills  shown  in  contemporary  pictures  ;  but  soon 
the  desio-ns  become  richer  and  wider,  and  being 
worked  in  finer  thread  than  that  formerly  used  for 
the  old  linen  lace-work,  and  combined  with  bands  of 


36  OF    ITALIAN   NEEDLE   LACE 

Reticella,  produce  a  very  handsome  as  well  as  light 
and  open  effect. 

In  James  the  First's  reign  some  concession  was 
made  to  comfort,  and  the  same  fluted  and  starched 
ruff  was  allowed  to  fall  towards  the  shoulders  instead 
of  standing  out  round  the  head;  then  suddenly  the  full 
frill  gave  way  to  the  "  Col  rabattu,"  the  large  falling 
collar  with  the  lace  border  of  Charles  the  First's  time 
so  familiar  to  us  in  Vandyke's  portraits  of  that 
monarch. 

But  to  return  to  "  Punto  in  Aria"  and  its  develop- 
ments. The  various  Laces  which  owe  their  invention 
to  this  origin  are  known  to  us  as  Point  lace.  The 
great  distinction  between  them  and  the  Lace  we  have 
hitherto  considered  is  that  Point  lace  is  worked  with 
button-hole  stitch  alone  (in  Italian,  "Punto  a  festone"). 
In  the  preceding  Laces,  as  shown  in  Illustration  I., 
Fig.  5,  sewing  over,  rope  stitch,  and  the  in-and-out 
stitch  called  '^  Punto  di  Genoa"  are  also  used,  but  in 
the  later  Point  lace  these  are  discarded  and  the  Lace 
is  made  entirely  with  button-hole  stitch,  close  or 
open.  All  the  beautiful  and  varied  effects  we  so 
much  admire  are  produced  by  this  alone. 

Lace  so  worked  had  its  orio-in  and  chief  centre  in 
Venice,  and  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  like  our  own 
English    manufactures,    it   was   brought   to   perfection 


VENETIAX    POINT  37 

not  bv  cinv  State  encourao-ement  such  as  LTOvernment 
schools  or  protective  duties,  but  rather  in  spite  of 
sumptuary  laws,  and  by  the  enterprise  and  artistic 
instincts  of  private  citizens.  It  culminated  in  the 
splendid  Lace  known  in  French  and  English  by  many 
names,  but  called  in  Italian  collectively  "  Punto 
tagliato  a  foliami,"  or  simply  "  Punto  di  Venezia." 

This  Lace  had  an  astonishino-  success  in  Italy  and 
also  in  Spain  and  hrance.  In  the  latter  country 
especially  enormous  quantities  of  it  were  lavished  on 
the  dress  both  of  men  and  women.  Owing-,  as  it  is 
said,  to  the  long  curls  of  the  young  King  Louis  the 
Fourteenth,  falling  collars  had  gone  out  of  fashion, 
ponderous  wigs  were  worn  by  the  courtiers  in 
imitation  of  the  King's  natural  locks,  and,  to  suit 
the  new  stvle  of  coiffure,  cambric  neckties  with 
fallino-  ends  of  the  richest  Venetian  Point  lace 
were  adopted.  And  not  only  so  was  this  Lace  used, 
but  the  gentlemen's  sleeve  cuffs,  the  ends  of  their 
waist  scarves,  the  canons  or  frills  half  a  yard  in 
width  ^^•hich  finished  the  short  breeches  of  the  day, 
the  rosettes  of  their  shoes,  and  even  the  tops  of 
their  high  leather  boots,  were  most  inappropriately 
decorated  in  the  same  manner. 

The  ladies  wore  the  beautiful  "Punto  di  Venezia" 
on  their  caps,  their  sleeves,  and  their  aprons,  besides 


S8  OF   ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

using-  it,  as  we  see  in  contemporary  pictures,  to  trim 
their  dinner  table-covers  and  pillow-cases,  and  even  as 
coverlets  for  their  beds,  where,  it  must  be  remembered, 
they  used  to  hold  receptions  of  their  friends,  male 
and  female.  For  church  purposes  it  was  also  largely 
used.  There  is  a  superb  altar  frontal  at  the  South 
Kensington  Museum  made  entirely  of  Venetian  Point, 
and  in  a  case  close  by  it  a  cardinal's  alb  of  pleated 
linen,  trimmed  with  a  flounce  half  a  yard  in  width  of 
the  finest  "  Punto  taoliato  a  foliami,"  or  Rose  Point. 

In  Ensfland  we  have  the  evidence  of  the  actual 
Lace  worn  by  Charles  the  Second  himself — and  it  is 
still  preserved  on  his  funeral  effigy  in  Westminster 
Abbey — to  prove  to  us  that  the  finest  \  enetian  Point 
was  also  in  fashion  here.  The  Lace  is  very  beautiful, 
now  mouldering  away  into  dust  and  ashes  together 
with  a  truly  strange  collection,  mementoes  of  bygone 
rank  and  splendour. 

Venetian  Point  is  variously  called  Raised  \"enetian 
Point  or  Gros  Point  de  A'enise,  also  Rose  Point, 
Carnival  Lace,  Cardinal's,  and  sometimes  even  Pope's 
Point,  Point  Plat  de  Venise,  Point  d'Espagne  or 
Guipure,  and  all  these  names  ha\e  been  used  some- 
what indiscriminately.  For  the  two  last  Guipure  de- 
notes Lace  made  with  braid,  or  tape,  or  gimp, 
and    is    not    in   any   way  applicable    to    fine    Needle- 


2 

O 


r. 


^fWr  i^/^<'    ^'i^r"^-^    ^W  iTv>^^i^i: 


K 


O 

.5 


C 

"o 


c 
c 

> 


39 


VENETIAN   POINT  41 

point.  Point  d'P^spagne  is  clearly  a  misnomer  for 
work  which,  though  it  may  have  been  occasion- 
ally produced  in  Spain  under  Italian  influence,  was 
certainly  of  Venetian  origin.  On  this  more  will  be 
said  under  the  head  of  Spanish  Lace.  For  the  rest, 
as  it  is  certain  that  different  stages  of  development 
and  decline  can  be  observed  in  the  historv  of 
Venetian  Lace,  and  having"  explained  that  the  names 
usually  employed  are  not  always  clearly  separable, 
it  has  been  thought  best  here  to  make  use  only  of 
such  names  as  will  serve  to  mark  the  distinction 
between  three  separate  stages  in  point  of  date  and 
stvle  of  the  Lace  known  as  a  whole  as  "  Punto 
tagliato  a  foliami  "  or  X^enetian  Point. 
We  would  class  them  thus  : — - 

1.  Venetian  Raised  Point  (/^r.  Gros  Point  de 
Venise),  under  which  head  we  include  the  variety 
called  Rose  Point. 

2.  \'enetian  P^lat  Point  (/v'.  Point  Plat  de  X'^enise), 
with  its  later  \ariety  which,  from  its  appearance,  we 
would  call  Coraline  Point. 

3.  Grounded  \'enetian  Point  (/v'.  Point  de  \^enise 
a  reseau),  and  in  this  class  we  include  "  Punto  di 
Burano,"  so  called  from  the  island,  near  Venice,  where 
it  was  made  ;  the  last  and  final  stage  of  the  Art  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

G 


42  OF    ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

RAISED    POINT,    OR   GROS    POINT    DE   YENISE. 

The  principal  distinctions  of  Raised  Venetian  Point 
are  :  First,  the  boldness  and  continuity  of  the  designs, 
which  sometimes  extend  throughout  a  whole  piece  of 
Lace;  Secondly,  the  "cordonnet,"  which  is  very  promi- 
nent. It  is  thickened  in  parts  by  the  addition  of 
sheaves  of  thread  closelv  overcast  with  button-hole 
stitches,  and  often  edged  with  rows  of  "  picots." 
The  Lace  is  held  together  by  "  brides,"  but  only  so 
far  as  is  necessary  for  strength,  the  "bride  "-work 
forming  no  essential  part  of  the  general  design.  The 
splendid  specimen  reproduced  in  Illustration  VI I.  is 
in  the  South  Kensington  ^Museum,  and  forms  part 
of  the  unrivalled  collection  of  Lace  bequeathed  to  the 
nation  by  the  late  Mrs.  Bolckow.  Such  Lace  has  been 
fitly  called  the  crowning  triumph  of  the  work  of  the 
needle.  The  freedom  and  beauty  of  the  design  are 
as  remarkable  as  the  exquisite  delicacy  and  variety 
of  the  details  and  the  perfect  skill  of  their  execution. 
An  Italian  poet  is  said  to  have  described  such  work 
as  "  scolpito  in  relievo "  (sculptured  in  relief).  The 
words  remind  one  that  Venetian  Lace  in  its  prime 
was  produced  when  manual  skill  had  reached  its 
highest  point  and  went  hand  in  hand  with  the 
heaven-born    instinct   of    beauty ;    when,    in   fact,    the 


43 


ROSE   POINT  45 

spirit  of  the  RcMiaissance  had  infused  life  and  vigour 
into  every  form  of  Art  throughout  Italy,  and  when 
the  workers  in  gold  and  enamel,  in  wood  and  iron, 
and  even  in  silk  and  linen  thread,  were  artists  as  well 
as  the  sculptor  and  the  painter.  Such  periods  are 
short-lived. 

ROSE   POINT. 

The  distinctions  to  be  drawn  between  this  and 
the  preceding  Lace  are  not  very  marked  ;  the  style 
is  modified,  not  chanoed.  The  designs  are  com- 
posed  on  a  smaller  scale,  enriching  ornament  is 
more  abundant,  and  the  groundwork  of  "brides" 
becomes  a  more  important  element  in  the  whole 
effect.  These  are  now  further  decorated  not  onlv 
with  "  picots "  but  also  with  numerous  little  whirls 
and  rosettes,  and  hence  perhaps  the  name  of  Rose 
Point.  The  specimen  shown  in  Illustration  XHII. 
is  also,  like  the  preceding,  taken  from  the  Bolckow 
bequest  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  is  a 
singularly  rich  example.  Here  the  raised  "cordonnet" 
is  edged  not  only  with  one  but  with  two  and  diree 
rows  of  loops  and  "picots,"  till  the  effect  produced  is 
almost  that  of  snowllakes,  on  which  account  such  Lace 
is  sometimes  called  "  Point  de  neigfe."  Rose  Point  is 
later  in  style  than  the  "  Gros  Point  de  Venise." 


46  ITALIAN    NEEDLE   LACE 

FLAT   VENETIAN   POINT. 

The  name  of  this  Lace  denotes  the  difference  of 
its  character.  The  raised  work  is  here  altogether 
absent,  the  designs,  though  often  very  graceful  and 
well  composed,  as  is  the  case  with  the  specimen 
shown  in  Illustration  IX.,  are  more  attenuated  than 
in  Raised  Point,  while  the  "  brides,"  as  in  Rose 
Point,  are  an  important  feature  in  the  general  effect. 

The  manner  in  which  the  work  was  executed  was 
the  same  in  all  three.  The  piece  of  parchment  on 
which  the  pattern  was  drawn  out  was  tacked  upon 
some  thick,  soft  cloth,  then  a  coarse  thread  or  cord 
was  sewn  down  alono"  the  outline  through  both  the 
parchment  and  the  cloth  together.  The  scroll-work 
or  flowers  of  the  pattern  were  then  filled  in  with 
button-hole  stitches,  as  shown  in  Pig.  i,  Illustra- 
tion I.,  either  close  or  open,  and  finally  the  ''brides" 
were  added  to  hold  the  parts  of  the  pattern  together, 
and  when  the  work  was  completed  a  sharp  knife  was 
passed  between  the  parchment  and  cloth  to  cut  the 
stitches  which  held  down  the  outline  cord  and  so  to 
free  the  finished  Lace  without  any  risk  of  injuring  it. 
A  later  style  of  Flat  Venetian  Point  is  one  that  we 
venture  to  name  on  account  of  its  strono-  resemblance 


y. 


o 

< 

H 


O 

c 

.2 

^~* 

c 

ID 
> 


n 

E 


47 


VENETIAN    POLNT  49 

to  the  delicate   fretwork   of    fine   coral   growths,   and 
also  because  of  the  story  that  is  told  of  its  origin, 

CORALINE   POINT. 

It  is  said  that  a  young  girl,  a  lace  -  worker  in 
Venice,  received  as  a  parting  gift  from  her  sailor  lover 
when  he  left  her  to  wait  for  his  return,  a  branch  of 
coraline,  and  she.  looking  at  it  and  thinking  of  him 
while  at  her  work,  considered  how  she  could  imitate 
it  with  her  needle.  She  tried,  and  the  result  was  so 
charming  that  she  speedily  found  imitators,  and  the 
Lace  became  one  of  the  most  favourite  in  use. 
This  Lace  is  often  specially  called  "Venetian  Point," 
and  rightly  so,  for  whereas  the  "  Point  Plat  "  and  the 
"  Gros  Point"  have  been  copied  both  in  Spain  and 
France,  this  Lace,  whose  origin  is  a  gift  from  the 
sea,  has  never  been  produced  elsewhere  than  on 
the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  But  beautiful  and 
wonderful  as  it  is,  it  must  be  considered  as  a  decline 
from  the  earlier  styles.  Very  little  connected  pattern 
is  to  be  traced  in  it  at  all,  and  what  there  is  is  often 
shapeless  and  angular.  There  is  little  or  no  raised 
work;  the  ground  of  "brides  picotees,"  though  well 
distributed,  is  without  method  in  its  arrangement  and 
the  shape  of  the  meshes.  It  has,  in  fact,  the  effect 
of  a   tangle — a  work   of   nature   rather  than   of  Art, 

H 


50  OF   ITALIAN    NEEDLE    LACE 

charming  for  its  delicate  workmanship,  and  for  the 
very  reason  of  its  confusion.  But  the  finest  Art  has 
never  been  considered  to  be  the  mere  imitation  of 
the  free  growth  of  natural  plants  or  animals,  its 
object  is  rather  to  generalise  and  idealise  nature,  and 
to  express  and  suggest,  through  the  representation  of 
things  familiar  to  us,  the  higher  spirit  of  symmetry 
and  harmony,  and  that  sense  of  ideal  beauty  which 
is  the  peculiar  gift  of  artistic  genius. 

The  third  and  last  stage  of  Venetian  Lace  is  the 


GROUNDED    POINT. 

(yFr.    Point    de   \'enise    a    reseau.) 

Till  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
there  was  an  almost  insatiable  demand  for  \"enetian 
Lace  at  the  French  Court,  and  the  supply  seems  to 
have  been  abundant  ;  but  when  the  manufactures 
of  Alen^on  and  the  neighbourhood  were  started, 
encouraged  by  the  King,  and  protected  by  pro- 
hibitive duties  against  the  importation  of  Italian 
Lace,  the  profits  of  the  Venetian  lace-makers  fell  off 
considerably.  It  was  then  that,  in  the  hope  of 
retaining  their  foreign  customers,  they  learnt  a 
lesson  from  their  supplanters,  and  in  imitation  of 
the    manufactures     of     Alencon     they    adopted     the 


Illustration  X. 


\'enetian  Point  (Coraline),  or  Punto  di  Venezia. 


51 


Illustration  XI. 


Jl. 


■..    h.    x'*      *Si§l?^ 


..*%«^.  '  ■• 


>f.Vv- 


•!5*vr-' 


■'.v'.v,  '/,vftv-      .    ■;;■.  W^      ^ 


■■  "Ip^ 


•>«»••?■ 


(ii'ciiindcd    \'eiK'lian    I'ciint. 


54 


GROUNDED   VEXETIAX    POINT  55 

"  reseau  "  oround.  The  stvle  of  the  "  reseau  "'  is 
much  the  same  as  the  French,  thous^h  the  mesh 
is  rounder  and  docs  not  fall  into  lines  across  the 
Lace  as  with  Alencon  and  Burano.  It  is  composed, 
however,  of  double  twisted  threads  throuo-hout,  as 
Fig.  3,  Illustration  I.  This  Lace  differs  further  from 
Alencon  in  that  the  pattern  is  not  outlined  with  any 
"  cordonnet."  \'enetian  Grounded  Point  is  a  very 
beautiful  piece  of  work,  exquisitely  fine,  delicate  and 
graceful  (see  Illustration  XL),  yet  in  point  of  style 
it  falls  under  the  strictures  passed  r)n  the  Rococo 
period,  inasmuch  as  it  often  suffers  from  a  redundancy 
of  ill-arranged  decoration. 

The  variety  and  abundance  of  the  ornamental  "a 
jours  "  are  especially  to  be  noticed.  These  are  far  too 
numerous  to  be  described,  but  a  zigzag  ornament 
may  be  specified  as  very  characteristic.  The  pattern 
usually  includes  the  representation  of  lilies  and  other 
natural  fiowers,  and  the  edge  of  the  Lace  is  generally 
in  the  form  of  a  shallow  scollop,  arranged  so  as  to 
form  part  of  the  design. 

This  Lace  was  produced  during  the  latter  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century  ;  then  came  the  end,  when 
the  storm  of  the  French  Revolution  burst  upon 
Europe  and  overwhelmed  the  Venetian  Republic  in 
its  course.      Rich  patrons  had  then  to  think  of  saving 


56  OF   ITALIAN    NEEDLE   LACE 

their  lives  and  what  they  could  of  their  property, 
and  no  longer  bought  Lace,  and  the  poorer  classes 
learnt  by  experience  that  to  kill  the  goose  who  lays 
the  golden  eggs  is  not  the  way  to  prosperity. 

Yet  the  manufacture  survived  for  a  little  while 
longer  in  the  island  of  Burano,  near  Venice,  and  as 
late  as  the  beo-innino-  of  the  nineteenth  centurv  a 
needle-made  Lace,  insignificant  in  pattern  and  coarse 
in  execution,  was  still  made  there  bv  native  workers. 
Mrs.  Palliser,  in  her  History  of  Lace,  published  in 
1864,  gives  an  illustration  of  a  specimen  of  Burano 
Lace  which  she  savs  had  been  bouQ-ht  of  an  old 
woman,  the  maker,  one  Ceccia  la  Scarpariola,  the 
last  survivor  of  the  lace-making  industry,  and  she 
adds,  "Venice  Point  is  now^  no  more." 

This  same  Ceccia  or  Cencia  was  still  older  when 
in  1872  an  unusually  severe  winter  reduced  the 
inhabitants  of  Burano  to  great  straits  of  poverty. 
The  population  was  at  the  time  entirely  dependent 
on  fishery  for  the  means  of  existence,  and  when 
the  canals  and  lagoons  w-ere  for  weeks  covered  with 
ice,  wholesale  starvation  seemed  imminent.  Their 
distress  came  to  the  knowledo^e  of  a  M.  Paulo 
Fambri,  who  made  an  appeal  to  the  charitable 
throughout  Italy  for  help.  The  King  and  Queen 
and  the   Pope  gave  the  example,  and  a  considerable 


o 


57 


REVIVAL   OF   15URAN0   LACE  59 

sum  was  raised,  part  of  which  was  immediately 
spent  in  alleviating'  the  distress,  and  with  what 
remained,  as  a  more  permanent  source  of  help  and 
comfort  to  these  poor  people,  a  school  was  started 
in  which  it  was  hoped  that  the  lost  Art  of  lace- 
making,  so  profitable  in  the  past,  might  be  revived 
for  their  benefit.  Cencia  Scarpariola  was  then 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  the  only  living 
person  who  remembered  or  could  show  how  the 
work  was  done,  and  she,  from  old  age  and  infirmity, 
was  incapable  of  teaching.  However,  nothing 
daunted,  some  Venetian  ladies,  headed  by  the 
Countess  Adriana  Marcello,  who  eventually  assumed 
the  whole  management  of  the  affair,  succeeded  in 
findino-  an  intelliy.'ent  worker  who  could  learn  only 
by  seeing  the  old  woman  at  her  needle,  and  she  in 
turn  taught  others.  Keeping  at  first  to  the  old 
Burano  style,  and  afterwards  copying  from  patterns 
and  designs  which  were  most  kindly  lent  by  Pier 
Majesty  the  Queen  of  Italy  and  others,  the  school 
has  at  length  been  able  to  produce  Lace  of  various 
kinds,  but  little  inferior  to  the  best  of  the  Venetian 
triumphs  of  former  days. 

In  Needle-point  lace  the  Burano  girls  now  repro- 
duce Raised  Venetian  Point,  Point  d'Argentan,  and 
d'Alencon,  and   old    Brussels,  as   well  as   the   peculiar 


6o  OF   ITALIAN   NEEDLE   LACE 

Burano  Lace  of  their  native  island.  Thus  a  beautiful 
Art  has  been  successfully  saved  from  oblivion,  and 
as  the  lace-makers  are  able  to  earn  what  to  those 
simple  folk  is  very  good  wages,  the  means  of 
subsistence  of  the  population  is  very  considerably 
increased,  and  comfort  and  good  morals  are  the 
satisfactory  results. 

In  an  account  of  Venetian  lace -making,  written 
by  Urbani  Gheltof,  published  in  Venice,  and  trans- 
lated into  English  by  Lady  Layard,  a  very  detailed 
description,  accompanied  by  diagrams,  is  given  of  the 
mode  of  execution  of  Burano  Point. 

From  this  it  appears  that  it  is  usually  worked  on 
a  pillow,  not  however,  of  course,  with  bobbins  as 
for  pillow-lace.  The  object  of  the  pillow  or  bolster 
is  merely  to  raise  the  work  to  a  suitable  height  on 
the  lap  of  the  lace-maker  and  to  diminish  the 
necessity  of  much  handling.  On  the  middle  of 
the  upper  side  of  the  pillow  there  rests  a  small 
wooden  cylinder  across  which  the  parchment  pattern 
is  stretched,  leaving  an  open  space  under  it  for  the 
convenience  of  the  worker ;  thus  the  strip  of  Lace 
is  kept  smooth  and  flat.  In  working  the  "  reseau  " 
(ground  a  thread  is  fixed  straight  across  the  whole 
width  of  the  Lace  as  a  foundation  for  each  row  of 
meshes,    being   passed   through   and   fastened   to   any 


MODERN   BURAXO    LACE  6i 

sprig  or  part  of  the  pattern  which  may  intervene, 
and  on  this  thread  the  looped  meshes  are  worked. 
The  result  is  the  formation  of  a  remarkably  square- 
shaped  mesh,  and  by  this,  and  also  by  the  streaky 
and  cloudy  appearance  of  the  "  reseau,"  Burano 
Point  may  be  recognised  ;  the  latter  effect  is  owing 
to  unevenness  in  the  quality  of  the  thread.  Burano 
also  differs  from  Alencon  in  that  its  "  cordonnet  "  is 
not  overcast  or  covered  with  button-hole  stitch,  but 
is  only  stitched  down  round  the  outline.  In  the 
matter  of  design  the  patterns  are  generally,  as  in  the 
illustration,  small  and  floral,  the  "reseau"  ground 
being  sprinkled  with  leaflets  or  blossoms ;  but  Alencon 
patterns  of  a  late  period  were  also  often  copied,  so 
that  the  quality  of  the  "  reseau,"  and  especially  the 
heavy  thread  "cordonnet,"  should  be  chiefly  relied 
upon  rather  than  the  pattern  as  marking  the  differ- 
ence between  the  two  kinds  of  Lace. 

For  the  benefit  of  visitors  to  \^enice  it  may  be 
added  that  the  Burano  Lace  schools,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Queen  of  Italy,  are  in  the  Palazzo 
Municipale,  opposite  the  church  in  the  principal 
Piazza  in  the  island,  and  that  they  will  well  repay  a 
visit.  Lace-makino-  can  be  better  understood  bv  beino- 
seen  than  by  even  the  most  careful  of  descriptions. 


62  OF   ITALIAN    NEEDLE   LACE 

OF   SPANLSH    LACES. 

These  are  included  in  the  present  chapter  on 
account  of  the  frequent  misuse  of  the  terms 
"Spanish  Point"  and  "Point  d'Espagne"  apphed  to 
Itahan  Laces.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Brussels  Lace 
known  as  ''  Point  d'Angleterre,"  names  may  be  in 
common  use  and  yet  not  always  safe  guides.  With 
regard  to  Spanish  Lace  it  seems  difficult  to  be  sure 
of  the  facts  of  the  case. 

It  is  certain  that  great  quantities  of  Lace  that  we 
should  describe  as  Raised  Venetian  Point  were  used 
in  Spain  both  for  the  dress  of  the  Court  and  also 
especially  for  the  adornment  of  the  church  vestments, 
altars,  and  images  of  saints.  During  the  LVench  in- 
vasion, when  churches  and  monasteries  were  freely 
pillaged,  these  treasures  were  scattered  over  the  world, 
and  on  this  account,  if  for  no  other  reason,  w^ere  sold 
in  the  market  as  "  Spanish  Lace."  But  it  is  also  prob- 
ably true  that  Lace  of  the  kind  was  made  in  the  con- 
vents of  Spain,  where  nuns  from  Italy  would  naturally 
teach  and  introduce  an  Art  so  much  in  request.  To 
judge,  however,  by  style  where  the  actual  nationality 
of  the  work  seems  doubtful,  it  is  clear  that  there  is 
no  sufficient  difference  to  mark  "Point  d'Espagne" 
as  a  really  distinct  Lace  from  X^cnetian  Point. 


SPANISH    LACE  6 


J 


The  Lace  known  for  certain  to  be  ot  Spanish 
production  is  a  coarse  pillow  (iuipure  both  of  white 
thread  and  also  of  gold  and  silver.  This  is  a  loose 
fabric  made  of  three  "  cordonnets,"  the  centre  one 
beinor  the  coarsest,  held  too-ether  with  finer  threads 
runnino-  in  and  out  across  them,  and  with  "brides" 
to  connect  and  keep  the  pattern  in  shape. 

Black  and  white  Blonde  has  durino-  this  century 
been  also  much  made  in  Catalonia  for  that  o-raceful 
national  head-dress,  the  mantilla,  but  it  is  not  at  all 
equal  in  quality  to  similar  Lace  made  in  the  north  of 
France,  of  which  more  will  be  said  further  on.  In 
fact  Spaniards,  though  they  have  always  been  very 
g'ood  customers  for  the  Lace  of  other  countries,  do 
not  appear  at  any  time  to  have  been  great  Lace 
producers. 


( lenuese  Plaited  Lace. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


OF    ITALIAN    PILLOW    LACE. 


Before  enteriiiL!'  into  details  concernino-  Lace  that  will 
fall  under  the  above  description,  some  mention  must 
be  made  of  a  decorative  work  of  very  ancient  origin, 
nam  el  V  : 

PUNTO  A  GROPPO,  OR  KNOTTED  LACE. 

(Now  known  as  Alacrame.) 

This  must  be  considered  as  a  very  early  form  of 
Pillow  lace,  being  made  with  interlaced  threads  on  a 
pillow,  though  by  knotting  and  not  by  plaiting  as 
in  the  modern  Pillow  lace.  It  no  doubt  grew  out 
of  the  knotted  fringes  that  we  see  represented  in 
Byzantine  mosaics,  or  it  may  claim  a  still  earlier  origin 
in  the  same  fringes  as  represented  in  ancient  Assyrian 
sculpture.  During  the  sixteenth  century  much  of  this 
work  was  produced  in  Genoa,  but  the  effect  was 
necessarily  stiff  and  heavy  and  was  not  found  suitable 
for  other  than  church  and  household  purposes. 

64 


Illustration  XIII. 


K 


Macrame,  or  I'unto  a  Gruppo. 


ORIGIN    OF   PILLOW    LACE  (>-] 

The  specimen  shown  in  Ilkistration  XIII.  was 
bought  in  Italy  some  fifty  years  ago,  but  the  work 
since  then  has  been  introckiced  into  this  country, 
and  so  many  books  of  patterns  and  directions  have 
been  pubkshed  that  any  detailed  description  of  it 
seems  unnecessary  here.  The  name  "  Macrame,"  by 
which  it  has  been  known  to  us,  is  as  modern  as  its 
revival  ;  it  comes  from  an  Arabic  w^ord  signifying  an 
ornamental  trimmino-. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  as  we  have  seen 
that  the  looped  stitch  of  netting  was  the  first  starting- 
point  of  the  needlework  button-hole  stitch,  with  which 
all  Point  laces  are  made,  so  we  may  consider  these 
knotted  fringes  as  the  beginning  from  which  all  the 
future  Pillow  lace  work  was  developed. 

Great  rivalry  exists  between  Italy  and  Belgium  as 
to  which  of  the  two  may  claim  the  merit  of  the 
invention  of  Pillow  lace.  While  Belgium,  as  we 
have  seen,  can  refer  to  the  picture  by  Ouintin 
Tvlatsys  of  the  girl  with  the  Lace  pillow  as  a  proof 
that  the  Art  existed  in  the  north  as  early  as  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Italy  can  show  on  her 
part  the  pattern -book  for  Pillow  lace -making  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  of  the  Arsenal  at  \'enice, 
entitled,  Le  Pouipe,  and  dated  1557.  and  if  this  later 
date  should  be  quoted  as  antagonistic  to  her  conten- 


68  OF    ITALIAN    PILLOW    LACE 

tion,  it  may  be  fairly  allowed  that  an  Art  must  have 
been  already  some  time  in  existence  before  it  could 
have  created  a  literature. 

M.  Seg'uin,  favouring  the  Italian  view,  is  of  opinion 
that  the  Art  spread  from  Italy  through  France  to 
Belgium  by  means  of  travelling  pedlars  who,  journey- 
ing slowly  across  Europe  and  stopping  everywhere  on 
their  road  to  sell  their  wares,  carried  the  knowledo-e 
of  Lace-making  into  the  Flemish  provinces,  where  the- 
population  was  already  familiar  with,  and  skilful  in,  the 
manufacture  of  linen.  However  that  may  be,  it  is 
certain  that   Pillow  laces   of   the   Italian   sort,   known 

to  us  as 

PILLOW   GUIPURE, 

seem  to  have  been  amon^'  the  earliest  made  both  in 
Flanders  and  in  Italy,  and  that  in  style  of  design 
they  have  a  distinctly  Italian  character.  It  is  this 
Lace  about  which  the  authorities  at  South  Kensinoton 
decide  to  be  doubtful.  One  must  conclude  that  they 
have  good  authority  for  believing  that  what  would 
certainly  from  its  appearance  pass  for  Italian  Lace 
has  actually  often  been  made  in  Flanders.  They  ha\'e 
therefore  labelled  the  cases  containing  it  as  "  Flemish 
or  Italian."  If  a  distinctive  difference  may  be 
suggested  l)etvveen  Lace  of  the  same  style  of  pattern 
made  in   the   two  countries,  it   would  appear  perhaps 


z 
o 


H 
ID 


o 


69 


PILLOW   GUIPURE  71 

to  be  in  the  quality  of  the  thread.  As  has  been  said, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Flemish  provinces  have  always 
been  noted  for  their  superior  skill  in  spinning'  and 
weavino-  linen,  and  whether  from  lack  of  such  skill 
or  from  a  difference  in  national  taste,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Italian  Lace  generally  of  all  kinds  is 
heavier  and  stouter  in  character  than  that  produced 
in  the  north  of  Europe.  Illustrations  XIV.  and 
XXIX.  should  be  compared. 

Pillow  Guipure  may  be  described  as  composed  of 
a  tape,  made  on  the  pillow  so  as  to  follow^  the  curves 
of  the  pattern  and  connected  by  "brides"  also  made 
on  the  pillow,  that  is,  made  of  twisted  or  plaited 
threads,  not  as  in  Needle  lace  covered  with  button- 
hole stitches.  The  ''brides"  are  sometimes  orna- 
mented with  "  picots,"  and  the  open  spaces  are  filled 
in  with  "  a  jours,"  also  pillow-worked. 

This  Lace,  though  flat,  is,  from  its  excellent  designs 
of  a  bold  Renaissance  character  and  its  good  work- 
manship, often  very  handsome  in  appearance. 

A  variety  on  this  is  the  mixed  Needle  and  Pillow 

lace,  called 

MEZZO   PUNTO. 

{Fr.    Point    de    Canaille.) 

In  this  the  ''a  jours"  and  ''brides  picotees  "  are 
worked  in  needle  stitches  imd  complete  in  Point   the 


72  OF    ITALIAN    PILLOW   LACE 

pattern  traced  out  with  Pillow- made  tape.  Some- 
times this  mixed  Guipure  is  grounded  with  a  coarse 
needle-made  "  reseau  "  instead  of  "  brides,"  but 
whether  so  or  with  "brides,"  it  is  too  often  made 
not  with  tape  worked  to  the  pattern  on  the  pillow, 
as  is  the  wholly  Pillow  Guipure,  but  with  a  woven 
tape  made  first  separately  and  then  tacked  on  to  the 
pattern  as  outlined  on  parchment  ;  the  result  is  that 
clumsy  puckers  and  folds  spoil  the  turns  and  curves 
of  the  design,  a  defect,  as  we  all  know,  which  has 
been  faithfully  copied  in  the  modern  revival  of  the 
Lace.  Whether  owing  to  this  or  to  the  mixture  of 
methods,  or  to  faults  of  design,  the  Mezzo  Punto 
never  has  the  simple,  free  effect  of  the  Pillow 
Guipure,  and  is  very  far  from  attaining  to  the 
richness  of  Needle  Point. 

It  has  been  said,  though  with  what  amount  of 
truth  we  do  not  know,  that  this  Lace  originated  in 
Naples,  and  was  meant  to  supply  the  poorer  folk  with 
a  cheap  imitation  of  the  rich  Point  laces  worn  by 
the  Court.  There  seems  no  doubt  that  both  mixed 
Lace  and  Pillow  Guipure  were  intended  to  copy  the 
Venetian  Points,  and  from  being  easier  to  work,  and 
less  costly  to  purchase,  they  gained  favour  very 
rapidly. 


o 

< 

H 
ir. 


a, 

c 

O 


4— « 

■5 


a- 
"3 


1) 


COLLAR   LACE  75 

GENOESE    LACE. 
(//.  Punto  di  Genoa.) 

As  Venice  was  the  great  centre  for  Needle-point, 
so  was  Genoa  for  Pillow  lace -making  in  Italy,  and 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  seventeenth  century 
a  constant  supply  was  produced  in  that  town  and 
its  neighbourhood  of  the  handsome  vandyked  and 
scolloped  border  Lace,  called  from  the  use  to  which 
it  was  put,  Collar  lace.  In  the  pictures  of  Rubens 
and  Vandyke  we  see  it  frequently  represented  as 
trimmino-  the  broad  fallinc^f  linen  collars  both  of  men 
and  of  elderly  ladies.  It  can  be  distinguished  from 
Flemish  Lace,  also  employed  in  the  same  way,  by 
its  o-reater  boldness  of  desio'n. 

The  younger  ladies  also  made  great  use  of  it  as 
trimming  for  the  shoulders  of  their  decollete  dresses, 
and  also  for  sleeves,  aprons,  etc. 

COLLAR    LACE. 

Collar  Lace  is  of  two  kinds,  both  of  which  are 
represented  in  Illustration  XVI.  That  of  which 
No.  2  is  a  specimen  resembles  in  principle  the  Pillow 
Guipure  already  described.  A  scroll-like  pattern,  as 
of    tape,    is    turned    and    twisted    into    forms    of    con- 


76  OF   ITALIAN    PILLOW   LACE 

siderable  elegance  which  at  the  same  time  compose 
the  deep  scollop  of  the  required  shape.  This  Lace  is 
round  and  not  pointed  in  its  outline.  The  whole  is 
strengthened  and  connected  by  short  "brides." 

PLAITED  LACE. 
{Fr.  Point  de  Genes  frise.     //.  Merletto  a  piombini.) 

No.  I  is  generally  pointed  or  vandyked  in  shape, 
and  is  worked  in  a  somewhat  unusual  manner  ;  the 
Lace  is  made  entirely  with  plaits  of  four  threads  each, 
following  the  design,  and  with  little  oval  enlargements 
resembling  ears  of  wheat,  which  are  sometimes 
arrano^ed  as  beads  on  a  thread  and  sometimes  com- 
posed  into  trefoils  or  quatrefoils,  or  spokes  radiating 
from  a  common  centre. 


GENOESE   TAPE   GUIPURE. 

Besides  the  border  Lace  chiefly  used  for  trimming 
collars  which  has  been  already  described,  a  Lace 
sometimes  known  as  Tape  Guipure  is  also  attributed 
to  Genoa,  A  specimen  is  shown  in  Illustration  XVII. 
which  will  sufficiently  explain  the  name.  A  con- 
voluted tape,  but  made  \.o  its  shape  on  the  pillow 
with  no  unseemly  puckers  or  folds,  seems  to  wind 
for    ever    through    the    design.       Great    ingenuity    is 


o 
U 


o 
c 

a 


u 


O 
C 
<u 

■J 


77 


Illustration  XVTT. 


Genoese  Tape  Guipure. 


79 


PUNTO   DI    MILANO  81 

shown  in  the  even  and  well-balanced  distribiilion  of 
the  pattern,  if  pattern  it  can  be  called,  where  so 
little  order  or  intention  can  be  traced.  W'ith  the 
enrichment  of  numerous  "  picots,"  and  also  some- 
times of  ornamental  "  a  jours "  filling  in  the  looped 
spaces,  this  Lace  has  often  a  very  good  though 
perhaps  monotonous  effect.  It  has  been  much  used 
for  church  vestments,  and  was  frequently  of  con- 
siderable  width. 

PUNTO     DI     MILANO. 

{E}ig.  Milanese  Pillow  lace.) 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  neither  this  Lace  nor 
"  Punto  di  Genoa"  are  rightly  called  "  Punti "  or 
Needle  -  point  lace  ;  they  are  both  made  on  the 
pillow.  The  name  "Punto  di  Milano"  is,  however, 
so  commonly  known  in  connection  with  it,  that  it 
would  be  pedantic  not  to  recognise  it,  though  with  a 
protest.  It  was  like  the  preceding  Laces,  of  Genoese 
origin,  but  has  survived  till  recent  times  in  Cantu, 
near  Milan.  It  is  by  far  the  most  beautiful,  as  well 
as  the  best  known  of  Italian  Pillow  laces.  It  much 
resembles  the  Genoese  Tape  Guipure,  but  with  far 
less  of  monotony,  and  much  more  of  graceful  design 
in  the  style  of  its  patterns.  In  some  fine  specimens, 
such  as  that  represented  in  Illustration  XVHL,  coats 


82  OF    ITALIAN    PILLOW   LACE 

of  arms  are  often  introduced,  probably  when  the 
piece  of  Lace  was  made  by  order  of  some  prelate  or 
personage  of  noble  family  ;  but  as  a  rule  easy-flowing 
scroll-work  fills  up  the  composition.  This  is  the 
only  Italian  Pillow  lace  which  is  grounded  with 
"  reseau,"  a  fact  that  marks  it  as  relatively  late  in 
point  of  date. 

It  is  somewhat  sino'ular  that  this  "reseau"  should 
very  much  resemble  that  of  Valenciennes,  having  a 
diamond-shaped  mesh  formed  with  a  plait  of  four 
threads  (See  Fig.  7,  Illustration  II.),  though  the 
two  kinds  of  Lace  are  in  other  respects  of  totally 
different  construction.  In  "  Punto  di  Milano,"  as  will 
be  easilv  seen  bv  referrino-  to  the  illustration,  the 
pattern  is  made  first  on  the  pillow  by  itself,  and  the 
"reseau"  ground  is  worked  in  round  it  afterwards, 
sloping  in  all  directions  so  as  to  fit  into  the  spaces  ; 
while  Valenciennes  is  worked  all  in  one  piece  on 
the  pillow,  pattern  and   "reseau"  together. 

The  difference  here  noticed  forms  a  very  marked 
distinction  between  two  kinds  of  Pillow  lace,  one 
of  which  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  Pillow 
Guipures  that  we  have  been  considering,  which  in 
the  case  of  "Punto  di  Milano"  were  afterwards,  so 
to  speak,  fitted  with  a  "reseau"  ground;  the  other 
kind    is   represented   in    Italy  by  the  various  peasant 


Illlstratiox  win. 


Milanese  Tillow   Lace. 


83 


Il.I.l^l  KAllCiN     XIX. 


Italian   I'easanl    Lace  (three  specimens). 
85 


PEASANT  LACE  ^7 

Laces,  of  which  three  specimens  are  given  in 
Illustration  XIX.  These  are  worked  all  in  one 
piece,  with  one  set  of  threads,  forming  as  it  were 
the  woof  and  warp  of  the  material.  This  can  be 
almost  verified  by  a  close  examination  of  the  facsimile 
print  (notice  No.  2),  though  of  course  more  certainly 
with  the  actual  Lace.  No.  i  is  worked  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  plaited  Genoese  Collar  lace,  that  is, 
with  plaited  threads  in  sets  of  four.  The  designs  of 
these  peasant  Laces  are  often  very  good,  though  the 
thread  with  which  thev  are  made  is  coarse,  and  their 
general  effect  ihick.  They  were  chiefiy  used  for 
household  purposes. 

Some  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  before  the  time 
when  railroads  had  become  universal  in  Italy,  and 
when  the  traveller  was  fain  to  rumble  along  during 
a  three  or  four  days"  journey  in  vcttiwino  between 
Rome  and  Florence  or  Naples,  the  rough  country 
inns  at  which  he  stopped  for  the  night  no  doubt 
left  much  to  be  desired  in  the  way  of  good  food, 
cleanliness,  and  comfort  ;  but  if  he  could  take  it  as 
a  consolation,  the  silk  hangings  of  his  bed.  his  sheets 
and  pillow-case,  his  towels  and  tablecloth,  were  nearly 
sure  to  be  adorned  with  this  strong  and  probably 
home-made  country  Lace.  He  soon  found,  more- 
over, that  after  the  indispensable  bargaining  enjoyed 


88  OF   ITALIAN    PILLOW   LACE 

by  both  parties  alike,  he  could,  for  a  very  reasonable 
consideration,  make  the  Lace  his  own.  So  the  dirt 
and  discomfort  are  forgotten,  and  the  recollection  of 
the  amusing  incident,  together  with  the  Lace,  remains. 
It  is  now  no  longer  made,  nor  is  any  more  of  it  to 
be  bouo-ht. 

MALTESE    LACE. 

A  notice  of  this  Lace  is  added  to  this  chapter  be- 
cause of  its  very  strong  resemblance  to,  and  probable 
development  from,  the  Genoese  manufacture.  Mrs 
Bury  Palliser,  in  her  History  of  Lace,  gives  a  sketch 
of  a  representation  of  Lace  copied  from  a  Cardinal's 
monument  in  the  church  of  St.  John  in  Valetta, 
from  which  it  would  seem  that  the  wavy  character 
of  the  designs  of  recent  Maltese  Lace  may  possibly 
be  of  ancient  origin.  But  there  seems  no  doubt 
that  a  great  improvement  took  place  both  in  its 
designs  and  execution  in  consequence  of  the  efforts 
of  Lady  Hamilton  Chichester,  who,  in  1833,  brought 
lace- workers  over  from  Genoa  to  teach  their  craft 
in  the  island.  The  Lace  is  made  in  white  thread 
and  in  black  and  white  silk  ;  in  the  white  silk 
specimen  shown  in  Illustration  XX.  the  little  wheat- 
ear  ornament  so  characteristic  of  Genoa  is  clearly 
seen. 


Illustration  XX. 


N 


Maltese  Lace  (Black  ;md  While  Silk). 
89 


Modern  Valenciennes. 


CHAPTER    V. 


OF    FRENCH    LACES. 


POINT    D'ALENCON. 

Fr  is  said  that  Needle-point  lace  was  made  at  Alencon 
as  early  as  1650  or  thereabouts,  but  though  mention 
has  been  found  of  it  by  name  at  that  time,  it  did  not 
attain  to  any  great  perfection  or  celebrity  till  the 
manufacture  was  taken  up  and  encouraged  by  Colbert, 
the  well-known  minister  under  Louis  the  Fourteenth. 
True  to  the  principles  that  have  governed  l^rench 
polic)'  in  commercial  matters  to  this  da\',  great 
jealousy  and  annoyance  hatl  lon'>-  been  felt  by  the 
wu^ious  ministers  ot    the  crown  at   the   large   sums   ot 

91 


92  OF    FRENCH    LACES 

money  yearly  spent  upon  the  importation  of  \'enetian 
and  other  Itahan  Laces,  then  thought  an  indispensable 
part  of  the  dress  of  the  Court.  Repeated  sumptuary 
laws  were  passed  to  check  the  trade,  but  fashion  is 
stronger  than  laws,  and  as,  judging"  by  their  portraits, 
the  royal  family  themselves  were  among  the  chiei 
culprits,  these  naturally  had  but  little  effect.  To  one 
issued  in  1660  we  owe  an  an^iusing  satire  calle  I 
"  La  Revoke  des  Passemens,"  passement  (Gimp  or 
Guipure)  being  the  old  Frt^nch  word  including  Lace 
and  embroideries.  The  various  Laces  enumerated, 
"  Poincts  de  Genes,  de  Raguse,  de  Venise,  d'Angle- 
terre  et  cle  Flandres,"  down  to  the  humble  "  Gueuse," 
the  equivalent  of  the  modern  Torchon,  are  supposed 
to  assemble  and  to  make  indignant  lamentation  over 
their  exclusion  from  Court.  The  poem  is  dedicated 
to  Mademoiselle  de  la  Trousse,  and  it  is  supposed  to 
have  been  written  bv  someone  belono-jno-  to  the 
circle  of  Madame  de  Sevigne.  The  wit  is  perhaj^s 
a  little  laboured.      The  gist  of  it  is  as  follows  : — 

One  of  the   Laces  addressing-   the   rest  with   some 
warmth,  says  : — 

"  Dites  moi  jc  vous  en  prie 
Poincts,  dentelles  ou  brodtries 
Qu'aurons  nous  done  fait  a  la  court 
Pour  (lu'on  nous  chasse  haut  et  court,"  etc. 


Illustration  XXT. 


A  Lappet,   Point  d'Alencon. 
93 


"LA    REVOLTE    DES    PASSEMENS"  95 

To    which    "Line    Grande    Dentelle    d'Anoleterre " 

replies  : — 

"  Get  infortune  sans  seconde 
Me  fait  bien  renoncer  au  monde. 

*  *  *  * 

Pour  ne  plus  tourner  a  tout  vent 
Comme  d'entrer  dans  un  Couvent." 

But  the  Laces  of  Flanders  will  not  patiently  submit 

to  be  so  exting-uished,  and  many  angry  verses  ensue. 

At  last  a  "  Dentelle  noire  "  in  despair  hires  itself  out 

to  a  game  merchant  for  nets  to  catch  snipe  and  the 

rest : — 

"Chacun  dissitnulant  sa  rage 
Doucement  pliait  son  bagage." 

*  *  *  * 

when  ''une  pauvre  malheureuse  la  Gueuse "  (it  was 
the  Lace  of  the  common  people)  declares  that  she  at 
least  will  not  give  in,  and  that  if  they  will  follow 
her  lead  she  will  certainly  replace  them  in  their 
former  position. 

"  La  dessus  le  Poinct  d'Alenron 
Ayant  bien  appris  la  le(^on 
Fit  une  fort  belle  harangue,'' 

and  the  result  was  that  they  all  repaired  to  the  Fair 
of  St.  Germains  prepared  to  do  battle  for  their  rights. 
However,  the    Kinir  brought  down  his  biof  o-uns  and 


96  OF   FRENCH    LACES 

the  brave  Laces  forthwith  took  to  their  heels.  They 
were  condemned  at  a  court-martial,  some  to  be  made 
into  tinder  for  the  sole  use  of  the  King's  mousquetaires, 
and  others  to  be  sent  to  the  galleys  or  burned  alive  ; 
but  Cupid,  "  le  petit  dieu  plein  de  finesse,"  makes 
intercession  and  they  are  foroiven  and  received  ao'ain 
into  royal  favour. 

The  poem  is  also  interestino-  as  giving  us  the 
names  of  the  Laces  most  in  repute  at  the  time. 
"  Point  de  Raguse  "  is  not  easy  to  identify.  Ragusa 
is  a  town  on  the  Dalmatian  coast,  and  being  near 
to  the  Venetian  dominions,  thouoh  not  at  the  time 
included  in  them,  the  Lace  was  probably  of  much  the 
same  kind  as  that  produced  in  Venice  itself;  if  so,  its 
fame  is  at  present  extinguished  by  that  of  its  more 
powerful  neighbour. 

The  edict  against  Lace  must  have  made  a  great 
impression  on  society,  for  /\braham  Bosse,  whose 
contemporary  engravings  are  a  mine  of  information 
concerning  the  dress  and  manners  of  the  clay,  gives 
us  an  amusing"  record  of  the  crisis.  He  depicts 
the  despair  of  the  lady  of  fashion  now  attired 
Puritan-wise  in  plain  hemmed  linen  cuffs,  collar  and 
cap,  as  she  mournfully  packs  away  all  her  rich  lace- 
trimmed  costumes,  and  bewails  her  sad  fate  in  heart- 
broken verses. 


POINT    DK    FRAN'CE  97 

The  failure  of  past  edicts  was,  however,  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  a  g-reat  success.  In  order  to 
exclude  foreign  manufactures  Colbert  hit  upon  the 
better  plan  of  encouraging  those  of  his  own  country. 
He  induced  Venetian  lace-workers  to  settle  near  his 
daughter-in-law's  castle  of  Lonray  at  Alencon,  and 
selected  a  competent  directrice  in  one  Catherine 
de  Marcq,  and  finally  in  1665  a  flourishing  Lace 
factory  was  established,  and  Lace  was  produced  in 
exact  imitation  of  Venetian  Point,  which  rivalled  if 
it  did  not  surpass  the   Italian  original. 

It  was  called  by  Royal  Decree  "Point  de  France." 
The  name  lasted  in  connection  with  Alencon  Lace 
till  about  1790.  It  is  impossible  now  to  distinguish 
the  earliest  Lace  so  called  and  produced  in  Alencon 
from  the  finest  Venetian  Point.  The  designs  are 
in  the  same  style,  and  the  workmanship  is  extremelv 
beautilul;  but  by  degrees,  as  greater  freedom  was  very 
wisely  allowed  to  the  workers,  a  new  and  separate 
style  developed  itself.  The  patterns  became  smaller 
and  more  delicate,  finer  thread  was  employed  than 
that  made  use  of  in  Italv,  "brides"  became  closer 
and  more  rcLTular  in  arrano-ement,  and  finallv  the 
needlework  "  reseau "'  ground  was  invented  in  imi- 
tation of  the  Pillow  laces  of  the  neio-hbourine 
Flemish  Provinces,  and  we  see  attained  in  per- 
o 


98  OF    FRENCH    LACES 

fection  the  style  of  .Lace  now  known  as  Point 
d'Alencon. 

The  Needle-pouit  "  reseau  "  was  worked  at  Alen^on 
about  the  year  i/i/,  but  combined  with  it  the 
patterns  still  retained  a  strong  Renaissance  char- 
acter. Runnino-  scroll-like  bands  filled  in  with  fanci- 
ful  "a  jours"  are  a  special  characteristic  of  this  period; 
they  wave  from  side  to  side  of  the  piece  of  Lace, 
form  part  of  the  edge  and  enclose  spaces  which  are 
decorated  with  flower  forms  conventionally  treated. 
(See  Fig-.   2,   Illustration  XXI L) 

A  variety  of  this  style  is  to  be  met  with  which 
has  sometimes  been  distinguished  as  a  separate  Lace 
under  the  name  of  "  Argentella."  Its  peculiarity 
is  a  large  and  very  ornamental  honeycomb  filling, 
made  use  of  alternately  with  the  ordinary  "  reseau  " 
as  a  groundwork  for  the  design,  with  a  very  beautiful 
effect.  Mrs.  Bury  Palliser  mentions  that  some  of  it 
was  sent  to  her  from  Genoa,  but  most  authorities 
seem  agreed  that  it  is  undoubtedlv  Point  d'Alencon. 

Towards  the  beginning  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth's 
reign  Alencon  patterns  were  much  modified,  the  fiower 
representations  became  more  and  more  naturalistic 
(see  the  beautiful  representation  of  roses  in  Fig.  i 
of  the  illustration),  and  the  groundwork  was  sprinkled 
with    spots    or    leaves.      Finally    under    the    Empire 


Illustration  XXII. 


I.  Early  Point  d'Alencon. 


2.    Lalcr  I'oinl  d'AIcn 


con. 


99 


POINT   D'ALENgON  loi 

the  hist  stage  was  reached,  the  pattern  dwindled  and 
became  Httle  more  than  an  outhne  of  "cordonnet,"  and 
the  "  reseau "  "seme  de  larmes "  betokened  the 
extinction  of  this  beautiful   Art. 

The  peculiarity  by  which  Point  d'Alencon  can 
always  be  recognised  is  its  "  cordonnet,"  which  is 
firmer  and  clearer  than  that  of  any  other  Lace,  owing, 
it  is  said,  to  the  fact  that  it  is  worked  over  horsehair  ; 
it  is  also  firmly  and  closely  covered  with  button-hole 
stitching  throughout.  The  Alenqon  "reseau"  is 
shown  in  Fig.  3,  Illustration  I.  It  is  made  with  a 
double-twisted  thread  throughout,  the  looped  stitches 
being  twisted  on  to  horizontal  threads  previously  fixed 
across  the  width  of  the  Lace,  giving  an  effect  of 
lines  or  rows  to  the  network. 

Point  d'Alencon  is  Lace  of  a  verv  fine  order,  both 
from  the  beauty  of  the  designs  during  the  time  ot 
its  |)rime,  and  also  from  the  wonderful  delicacy  of 
its  workmanship,  which  last  can  scarcely  be  appre- 
ciated except  with  the  help  of  a  magnifying  glass. 
The  specimen  shown  in  Illustration  XXI.  is  part  of 
a  lappet,  the  length  of  which  is  divided  into  sections 
by  a  very  beautiful  framework  filled  in  with  delicate  "a 
jours";  each  section  contains  a  little  group  represent- 
ing one  of  La  P'ontaine's  fables  ;  a  trul)'  mar\ellous 
triumph  of  needlework. 


102  OF   FRENCH    LACES 


POINT    D'ARGENTAN. 

Aro'entan  is  a  town  in  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood  of  Alencon,  and  the  Lace  was  made  there 
under  the  same  direction.  Its  marked  pecuharity  is 
that  the  "  reseau "  around  is  not  made  of  single 
threads  only,  but  that  the  sides  of  each  mesh  are 
worked  over  with  button-hole  stitch.  (See  Fig-.  4, 
Illustration  I.)  The  work  is  so  line  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  detected  with  the  naked  eye,  but  the 
effect  can  easily  be  recognised  as  the  hexagonal 
mesh  is  larger,  and  has  a  stiffer  appearance,  than 
is  the  case  with  any  other   Needle-made  lace. 

VALENCIENNES    PILLOW    LACE. 

This  most  beautiful  of  French  Pillow  laces  is 
now  no  longer  made  in  F'rance  itself,  its  manufacture 
having  been  transferred  to  Ypres,  in  Belgium. 

It  belongs  to  that  class  of  Pillow  lace  which  is 
made  in  one  piece  on  the  pillow,  the  same  threads 
formino-  both  "  toile  "  and  "reseau"  alike. 

The  peculiarity  of  all  Valenciennes  Lace  is  the 
absence  of  any  "cordonnet";  also  the  closeness  and 
evenness  of  the  texture  of  the  "toile"  which  re- 
sembles the  finest  cambric  ;  but  notwithstandino"  that 


X 

c 


in 


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< 


lo; 


VALENCIENNES    LACE  105 

these  characteristics  may  always  be  recognised,  there 

is   a   very   great    difference    between    the   earHer   and 

the  later  styles  of  the  Lace.      \n  the  preceding  pages 

it   has    been   explained   that    the   earliest    Pillow  lace 

was   not   made   with    the    "  reseau "    ground;    on    the 

contrary,  this  was  one  of  the  latest  developments  of 

the  lace-making-  Art.      Even  when  "bride"  work  had 

been    abandoned    there    occurred    a    transition    state 

before  the  simple  net-like  character  of  the   "reseau" 

was   perfected,   and   accordingly  we   find   the   earliest 

Valenciennes    Lace    grounded    with,    so    to    speak,    a 

fancy    mesh,    thicker    and    closer    in    effect    than    the 

open    "reseau"    of    later    date.      The    difference    will 

be     seen     between     the     two     specimens     shown     in 

Ilkistration   XXIV.,    and    there    also   will    be   seen    a 

difference  in  the  style  of  design  strongly  corroborative 

of   the  above   statement  ;    for  the   specimen  g-iven  of 

the  thick-o-rounded   Lace  is  in  excellent   Renaissance 

stvle,  whereas   the    later    Lace   has   deo-enerated    into 

naturalistic    floral    representation.       It    would    appear 

that     the    early    Valenciennes     Lace    was    produced, 

oenerallv,    in    the    neighbourino-    district,    but    that    it 

was   in   the  town    itself   that   the   pure   "  reseau  "  was 

invented,    and    forthwith     the    town    workers,    proud 

of    their     invention,     proceeded     to     appropriate     to 

their     Lace     the    name     of    "  Vraie     V^alenciennes," 
p 


io6  OF   FRENCH    LACES 

pretending  that  this  Lace  could  not  be  made  elsewhere; 
and  they  moreover  stigmatised  the  older  style  still 
produced  in  the  country  villages  as  "  Fausse  Valen- 
ciennes." The  palm  of  merit  would  not  be  now 
altogether  awarded  in  their  sense  ;  notice  the  beautiful 
specimen  shown  in  Illustration  XXV.  Here  a 
Renaissance  framework  encloses  a  naturalistically 
treated  carnation  flower.  The  carnation  has  ever 
been  a  favourite  with  embroiderers  and  lace-workers, 
and  in  this  instance  is  most  beautifully  represented. 

The  "reseau"  of  the  "  Vraie  Valenciennes"  is 
made  of  four  threads  plaited  throughout  (see  Fig.  7, 
Illustration  II.),  hence  its  great  durability  and  the 
name  given  to  it  by  its  admirers,  "  Les  eternelles 
Valenciennes." 

POINT    1)E   PARIS. 

It  is  sometimes  contended  that  there  is  no  special 
Lace  properly  called  by  this  name,  but  that  it  is 
merely  the  designation  of  a  particular  kind  of 
"reseau,"  also  described  as  the  Fond  Chant 
"reseau."  (See  Fig.  8,  Illustration  II.)  Still  there  is 
no  doubt  that  a  manufacture  of  some  sort  of  simple 
Lace  was  carried  on  extensively  during  the  seven- 
teenth and  eiohteenth  centuries,  in  the  Isle  de 
France  and   in    Paris   itself    until   annihilated   by  the 


o 


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Illustration  XXV. 


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i';.  .,  i'!. %'•'.'.••.'•> -•■.*.....«,-•,..  I         -:.;V...  ■••.-■••.•-.,    ■".•.•.•.•.-->    <  ."  ,.  ^^B 

!'-.••**'*■*•*'''                             r.A    "■-,-.  V-  •'*■«■■            "^1.,'       .**".'*-•*'.■'''■■•■;''                                              ■  '^  ''-^^^^^1 

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HH. 

^^^^^r  ^' 

^^^V  ..' 

^^^^K'  •■  ' 

A  Lappet,   Early   X'alcnciciines. 
109 


X 
o 

H 

H 
(/; 

J 


I  I  I 


LILLE  113 

Revolution,  and  that  its  characteristic  was  this  same 
"reseau."  As  shown  in  the  specimen— I Ikistration 
XXVL- — the  style  of  pattern  is  extremely  simple, 
and  consists  usually  of  small  leafy  sprays,  united  to 
form  a  straight  edge  with   "picots." 

The  industry  is  believed  to  have  been  first  founded 
by  Huguenots,  and  encouraged  by  Henry  IV.  and 
Sully,  but  no  Lace  of  great  artistic  pretension  was 
ever  produced. 

LILLE. 

Lille  has  been  a  French  town  since  the  treaty  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1668  ;  its  productions  should  there- 
fore be  properly  included  among  French  Laces, 
though  in  character  they  are  more  nearly  akin  to 
those  of  Flanders. 

In  appearance  there  is  indeed  a  strong  resemblance 
to  Mechlin  ;  the  special  difference  between  the  two  is 
in  the  character  of  the  "  reseau."  That  of  Lille  Lace 
is  known  as  "Fond  simple"  or  "Fond  clair."  It  is 
made  of  two  threads  only,  and  these  simply  crossed, 
not  plaited,  at  their  junction  (see  Fig.  6,  Illustra- 
tion II.)  ;  by  this  peculiarity  Lille  Lace  can  be  always 
recognised.  The  pattern  is  outlined  with  a  "  cor- 
donnet "  of  flat  untwisted  coarse  thread.  The  edoe 
of  the  Lace  is  usually  quite  straight,  not  scolloped  or 
0 


114  OF   FRENCH    LACES 

wavy,  and  oval  openings  are  left  in  the  pattern  near 
the  edge  and  filled  with  ornamental  "a  jours."  The 
"  reseau  "  is  often  sprinkled  with  small  square  dots. 

CHANTILLY. 

Though  the  silk  Lace  of  France  is  mostly  known 
under  this  name,  yet  its  manufacture  was  extensively 
carried  on  at  Caen,  Bayeux,  and  Le  Puy,  as  well  as 
at  Chantilly. 

It  is  made  both  in  black  and  white  silk,  and  its 
distinguishing  peculiarity  is  the  use  of  the  six-pointed 
star  "  reseau,"  the  "  Point  de  Paris "  already  men- 
tioned, also  known  by  the  name  of  ''  Fond  Chant," 
an  abbreviation  of  Chantilly.  (See  Fig.  8,  Illustra- 
tion II.)  It  is  generally  used  in  conjunction  with 
the  "  Fond  simple "  of  Lille.  The  pattern  of 
Chantilly  Lace  is  outlined  with  a  "  cordonnet "  of  a 
flat  untwisted  silk  strand. 

BLONDE, 

also  made  in  the  same  districts,  has  a  "reseau"  of 
the  Lille  type  made  of  fine  twisted  silk,  while  the 
"  toile "  is  worked  entirely  with  a  broad  flat  strand, 
producing  a  very  attractive  glistening  effect.  The 
name  "  Blonde  "  originated  from  the  use  of  ecru 
instead  of  bleached  silk,   hence   "  blonde  "   or  flaxen. 


> 

X 
X 

c 
< 


c 


1  i: 


BLONDE  117 

The  manufacture  of  silk  Lace  at  Chantilly  and  in 
the  neii^hbourhood  was  established  in  the  seventeenth 
century  by  the  Duchesse  de  Longueville,  and  owing 
to  her  patronage  and  also  probably  to  the  vicinity  of 
Paris  it  became  for  a  time  very  popular.  At  the 
Revolution  the  demand  for  it,  of  course,  at  once 
ceased,  and  not  only  so,  but  being  looked  upon  as 
royal  prot^gt^s  the  unfortunate  lace  -  makers  were 
involved  in  the  ruin  of  their  patrons,  and  most 
of  them  perished  by  the  guillotine.  During  the 
Empire,  however,  Chantilly  and  also  Blonde  came 
aeain  into  fashion,  and  since  that  time  the  demand 
for  black  silk  Blonde  for  Spanish  mantillas  alone,  has 
kept  up  the  prosperity  of  the  trade,  which,  however, 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  any  one  town,  but 
flourishes  throughout  the  province  of  Calvados. 


OF   OTHER    FRENCH    PILLOW   LACES. 

Normandy,  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  was  a  very  important  district  for  Pillow 
lace-making  in  France,  Valenciennes  at  the  time 
forming  part  of  Flanders. 

The  picturesque  head-dresses  of  the  peasant  women 
no  doubt  encouraged  the  manufacture.  In  1692,  in 
Dieppe  alone,   four  thousand  women  were  employed 


ii8  OF   FRENCH    LACES 

in  lace-making,  and  at  Havre,  Honfleur,  Bolbec,  Eu, 
and  Fecamps  the  trade  was  also  in  a  very  flourish- 
ino-  condition.  The  Lace  produced  was  of  a  simple 
character,  much  resemblino-  the  modern  Valenciennes 
edgings  ;  it  is  often  mentioned  in  inventories  and 
letters  of  the  clay  as  being  used  by  the  upper  classes, 
especially  as  trimmings  for  under-linen.  But  the 
Revolution  passed  over  this  district  as  elsewhere  like 
a  destroying  blight,  and  the  lace-making  trade  was 
for  a  time  utterly  extinguished,  hi  1826  some  nuns 
attempted  to  revive  the  manufacture,  and  a  Lace 
school  was  started  at  Dieppe  with  some  success. 
The  kind  of  Lace  is,  however,  unfortunately  of  all 
others  the  easiest  to  imitate  by  machinery  ;  indeed, 
only  workers  themselves,  it  has  been  said,  can  detect 
the  very  slight  difference  that  exists  between  ordinary 
Valenciennes  edging,  as  made  on  the  pillow,  and  the 
best  that  is  produced  by  the  loom.  Under  these 
circumstances,  as  purchasers  will  naturally  always 
gravitate  to  the  cheapest  market,  it  is  no  wonder 
if  hand-work,  of  necessity  more  laborious,  and  conse- 
quently more  costly,  cannot  be  made  remunerative. 


Illustration  XXVIII. 


Blonde. 
119 


^^echlin. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

OF    FLEMISH    LACES. 

Reversing  what  we  have  seen  to  be  the  case  with 
ItaHan  Lace,  the  earHest  Flemish  Lace  was  un- 
doubtedly made  on  the  pillow,  though  as  to  whether 
the  Art  originated  in  Flanders  or  was  imported 
from  Venice,  there  is  great  difference  of  opinion. 
The  areuments  on  both  sides  have  been  stated  on 
page  67.  But  some  further  light  seems  to  be  thrown 
on  the  subject,  when  the  character  of  the  early 
Flemish  Lace  is  observed.  According  to  the  opinion 
of  most  writers,  borne  out  by  the  chronological 
arraneement  of  the  cataloo-ue  of  the  South  Ken- 
sineton  Museum,  the  earliest  Lace  made  in  Flanders 
was  of  the  kind  known  as  Pillow  Guipure.  The 
pattern  is  made  as  of  tape  in  a  flowing  Renaissance 

R  121 


122  OF   FLEMISH    LACES 

style,  sometimes  connected  by  "brides,"  sometimes 
altogether  without  "brides,"  when  the  points  of 
the  pattern  touch  each  other. 

There  are  many  specimens  of  this  Lace  in  the 
Museum  so  nearly  like  Italian  Lace  of  the  same 
kind,  that  the  description  there  given  of  them  is 
"  Flemish  or  Italian."  Two  specimens  are  here 
shown  in  Illustration  XXIX.  of  this  Lace,  and  in 
these  specimens  at  any  rate  a  distinction  can  be 
observed  which  seems  to  mark  them  as  Flemish. 
The  thread  used  is  much  finer,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  work  is  looser  and  less  firm  than  that  seen 
in  acknowledo^ed  Italian  Pillow  lace.  However  that 
mav  be,  no  one  accustomed  to  Italian  desio-n  can  look 
at  them  without  feeling  sure  that  the  inspiration  of 
such  Lace  was  certainly  that  of  the  Italian  Renaissance, 
even  though  produced  in  Flanders,  and  if  so,  then 
the  natural  conclusion  will  be  that  such  Pillow  lace 
was  in  its  origin   Italian. 

Thus  much  has  been  said,  in  order  that  the  student 
may  not  be  perplexed  when  finding  Lace  of  undoubted 
Italian  character  attributed  with  good  evidence  to 
Belsrium. 

In  Flanders,  as  elsewhere.  Pillow  lace  "a  brides" 
was  antecedent  to  that  made  with  the  "  reseau " 
oTOLUid.       In    specimen    Fig.    i    one    can    almost    see 


Ir.I.USTRATIOX    XXIX. 


Flemish  Pillow  Lace  (two  specimens). 


121 


ORIGIN    OF   "RESEAU"    GROUND  125 

how  the  one  was  developed  out  of  the  otlui-.  'Ihc 
pattern  was  too  loose  to  admit  of  Iari:;"e  open  spaces, 
and  as  it  was  easier  held  tot^ether  bv  many  ties  than 
by  few,  these  interlaced,  and  naturally  fell  into  regular 
arrano-ement,  foreshadowing  the  mesh  of  the  future 
reseau. 

The  exact  time  at  which  this  was  fully  developed 
seems  uncertain.  Portraiture  in  England,  at  least 
in  this  case,  is  of  little  or  no  assistance,  owing  to 
the  vicious  taste  of  the  day  which  induced  Sir  Peter 
Lely  and  others  to  represent  their  sitters  as  draped 
in  loose  floating  masses  of  blue  or  white  satin, 
arranged  in  a  supposed  classical  but  impossible 
manner,  and  fastened  on  the  thigh  or  the  shoulder 
with  an  equally  impossible  jewel.  But  fortunately 
Art  in  Holland  was  less  imaginative  ;  and  in  a  portrait 
of  Fraulein  Verbiest,  by  Gonzales  Coques,  we  see 
Lace  with  a  "reseau"  ground  very  clearly  depicted. 
Coques  died  in  1684;  the  invention  therefore  must 
have  been  anterior  to  that  date. 

Mr.  Alan  Cole,  whose  short  introduction  to  the 
catalogue  of  Lace  in  the  South  Kensington  ALiseum 
is  an  admirably  clear  exposition  of  the  subject,  is 
of  opinion  that  "  the  origin  of  '  reseau  "  grounds  may 
be  considered  to  lie  first  in  the  use  ot  the  net  ground 
for   '  Lacis '  or   Darnc;d   netting,  the   '  Punto  a  maLiiia 


126  OF   FLEMISH    LACES 

quadra,'  for  which  \'inciolo  made  many  designs " 
(the  pattern  books  alluded  to  in  a  preceding  chapter  ; 
see  p.  35).  "He  was  in  the  employment  of  the 
French  Court  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  at  this  time  the  early  form  of  Pillow 
lace  was  being  produced,  and  as  it  proceeded  and 
became  more  and  more  developed,  the  making  of 
meshes  in  small  series  of  twos  and  threes  also 
developed"  (see  Fig.  2,  Illustration  XXIX.)  "and 
expanded  into  larger  spaces  filled  with  'reseau.'  It 
seems  likel)'  that  this  development  was  stimulated 
by  the  contemporary  production  of  the  Darned 
net-work,  which  the  lace-workers  would  be  ambitious 
of  reproducing  on  the  pillow." 

The  earliest  ''  reseau "  oTOunded  Lace  made  in 
Flanders  had  a  large  irregular  mesh,  and  was  called 
"  Fond  de  brides." 


BRUSSELS    PILLOW   LACE. 

This  has,  all  along,  retained  a  trace  of  its  origin 
from  Pillow  Guipure,  in  that  like  its  Genoese  original, 
and  unlike  other  Flemish  Laees,  it  is  not  made  in 
one  piece  on  the  pillow,  but  the  pattern  is  first  made 
b\  itself,  and  the  "reseau"  ground  is  worked  in  round 
it    afterwards.      The   peculiarity   is   easily  recognised  ; 


BRUSSELS    PILLOW-LACE 


127 


for  in  consequence  of  the  way  in  which  it  is  worked, 
the  lonir  threads  that  form  the  "  toile "  of  Brussels 
Lace  of  all  dates  always  follow  the  curves  of  the 
pattern,  whereas  with  other  Flemish  Laces  in  which 
pattern  and  "reseau"  are  made  together  in  one  piece 
on  the  pillow,  however  varied  the  forms  may  be, 
these  threads  are  found  to  run  parallel  to  the  edge 
of  the  whole  length  of  the  Lace,  and  to  pass  across 
through  the  pattern  into  the  "reseau"  ground.  (See 
diagram.) 


Brussels. 


Mechlin. 


Here  we  have  the  first  peculiarity  by  which 
Brussels  Pillow  lace  can  be  recognised.  Secondly, 
it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  "  reseau  "'  of  Brussels  Lace, 
as  seen  throuQ^h  a  maLinifvino-  <)-lass,  has  a  hexa^ronal 
mesh,  of  which  two  sides  are  made  of  four  threads 
plaited    four    times,    and    four    sides    of   two    threads 


1 28  OF    FLEMISH    LACES 

twisted  twice.  (See  Fig".  3,  Illustration  II.)  Thirdly, 
Brussels  Pillow  lace  has  two  sorts  of  "  toile  "  ;  one. 
the  usual  woven  texture  as  of  a  piece  of  cambric  ; 
the  other  a  more  open  arrangement  of  the  threads, 
having  very  much  the  appearance  of  the  Fond 
Chant  "  reseau."  (See  Fig.  2,  Illustration  II.)  This 
is  used  with  great  effect  to  represent  shading  in  the 
production  of  llower  forms,  especially  in  modern  Lace. 
Fourthly,  the  pattern  of  Brussels  Lace  is  not  out- 
lined with  a  "  cordonnet,"  but  a  little  line  of  open- 
work stitches  forms  the  edge  instead.  (See  diagram.) 
Brussels  Pillow  lace  is  also  distinguished  by  the 
beauty  of  its  designs,  more  freedom  being  possible  in 
consequence  of  the  manner  in  which  it  was  worked. 

The  extreme  fineness  of  the  thread  in  old  Brussels 
Pillow  lace  is  also  to  be  noticed.  It  was  spun,  we 
are  told,  in  dark,  clamp  cellars,  where  only  one  ray 
of  liijht  was  arrano-ed  to  fall  on  the  thread,  which 
was  otherwise  almost  invisible  ;  also  because  in  a 
drier  air  it  would  have  been  too  brittle.  But  such 
hand-spun  thread  is  now  too  costly  for  use,  and 
machine-made  thread  is  always  substituted. 

Although  the  characteristics  enumerated  above  may 
always  be  recognised,  yet  the  Brussels  Pillow  lace 
of  to-day  bears  but  slight  resemblance  to  the  manu- 
factures   of    the    seventeenth    century.      It    has    gone 


Illustration  XXX. 


Old   Brussels  Pillow  lace— "  Toint  d'Angleterre." 
130 


POINT   D'ANGLETERRE  131 

through  many  styles  in  pattern  and  make,  which  may 
be  classed  as  follows  : — 

rOINT    D'ANGLETERRE. 

On  the  first  invention  of  the  perfectly  formed 
"  reseau"  ground,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  this  was  worked  on  the  pillow  in  the  follow- 
ino-  manner :  threads  were  hooked  on  to  the  little 
open  edge  of  the  "  toile "  of  the  pattern,  and  with 
these  the  "reseau"  was  worked  in  round  the  pattern 
to  fill  up  the  ground.  "  Reseau  "  made  in  this 
manner  is  called  the  "  vrai  reseau,"  and  Brussels  Lace 
thus  worked  is  properly  styled  "  Point  d'Angleterre." 
The  specimen  shown  in  Illustration  XXX.  of  this 
early  style  has  a  characteristic  peculiarity,  namely, 
the  raised  rib  of  plaited  threads  marking  the  veins 
of  the  leaves  and  outlining  the  salient  parts. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  specimen  with  the 
early  V^alenciennes  lappet  shown  in  Illustration  XXV.; 
thouo-h  the  method  of  execution  is  radicallv  different 
the  design  is  almost  identical,  showing  the  interchange 
of  patterns  which  took  place  between  various  contem- 
porary Lace  manufactories.  It  is  a  lesson  that  one 
cannot  altogether  trust  to  the  style  of  the  pattern  in 
judging  of  the  local  character  of  Lace. 

"Point    d'Ano-leterre "    was    also    often   made   with 


132  OF   FLEMISH    LACES 

open  spaces  left  either  round  the  pattern  or  in 
diagonal  bars,  and  these  were  filled  in  with  pillow- 
made  "brides  picotees."  This  Lace  is  called  "Point 
d'Angleterre  a  brides."  A  very  beautiful  example  is 
ofiven  in  Illustration  XXXI.,  which  is  further  interest- 
ing  on  account  of  the  fine  Needle-point  fillings  that 
have  been  superadded.  When  such  is  the  case  the 
Lace  is  called  "mixed  Lace." 

Many  explanations  have  been  given  for  the  use 
of  the  name  "Point  d'Angleterre,"  for  a  Lace  that 
is  neither  Point  nor  made  in  Eno-land.  M.  Seo'uin 
favours  the  theory  that  the  Lace  was  of  English 
origin,  and  that  it  was  only  subsequently  produced 
in  Brussels  ;  but  there  seems  to  be  but  little  ground 
for  that  view.  The  opinion  more  usually  held  is  that 
when,  about  the  year  1660,  its  importation  into 
England,  as  well  as  into  France,  was  forbidden  by 
prohibitive  duties,  the  Lace  merchants  nevertheless 
found  means  to  smuggle  it  across  by  sea  to  English 
ports  and  then  sold  it  here,  and  exported  it  into 
France  as  "  Point  d'Angleterre."  To  this  day  all 
Brussels  Lace  is  indiscriminately  so  called  in  France. 

The  ladies  of  Louis  the  Fifteenth's  Court,  in  the  days 
when  hoops  and  powder  were  in  fashion,  particularly 
affected  this  Lace.  In  England  the  protective  duties 
were    removed    in    1699,    and    here    too,    during    the 


Illustration  XXXI. 


"  Point  crAnsrleterre  a  brides." 


POINT   D'ANGLETERRE  135 

reiirns  of  Georsfe  the  First  and  Georo-e  the  Second, 
in  spite  of  great  efforts  made  to  encourage  native 
lace-making,  ruffles,  lappets,  and  flounces  were  most 
admired  when  made  of  Brussels  Lace.  Such  Lace 
at  this  time  was  made  in  pieces  of  considerable  size, 
and  in  this  case  the  "  reseau  "  was  worked  in  narrow 
strips  from  an  inch  and  a  half  to  two  inches  wide, 
and  afterwards  joined  together  to  the  required  width 
with  the  needle,  but  so  skilfully  as  almost  to  elude 
detection. 

Brussels  Lace,  "a  vrai  reseau,"  continued  to  be 
produced  until  the  catastrophe  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, which  had  its  effect  upon  this  as  upon  all  other 
centres  of  the  Lace  industry  ;  but  here,  it  was  not 
the  only  cause  of  the  decline  of  the  Art.  The  inven- 
tion of  machine-made  net  had  been  perfected  in 
Nottingham  about  the  year  1810,  and  from  that 
time  forward  the  Brussels  lace-workers  adopted  the 
plan  of  appliqueing  their  Pillow-made  patterns  on 
this  comparatively  inexpensive  material,  and  the  "vrai 
reseau "  worked  on  the  pillow  is  now  never  made 
except  by  special  order  for  Royalty  or  for  exhibition 
purposes. 

Lace  so  appliqued  can  be  distinguished  Irom  that 
made  with  the  "  vrai  reseau "  by  the  fact  that  the 
net    ground,    though    sometimes    cut    away,    is    often 


136  OF    FLEMISH    LACES 

seen  to  pass  behind  the  lace  pattern,  and  also  by  the 
character  of  the  network  ;  machine-made  net  is  com- 
posed of  diamond-shaped  meshes,  and  is  made  with 
two  threads  only,  very  tightly  twisted  and  crossed,  not 
plaited,  at  their  junction,  and  is  quite  unlike  the 
Brussels  pillow  "reseau"'  shown  in  Fig.  3,  Illustration  II. 
Brussels  Pillow  Lace  appliqueed  on  machine-made 
net  is  known  as  "  Point  plat  applique."  The  term 
"Plat"  is  used  to  distinguish  it  from  Needle-point 
Brussels,  also  sometimes  applique.  The  innovation 
described  above  was  very  fatal  to  the  character  of 
Brussels  Lace.  The  desio-ns  o-rew  more  and  more 
attenuated  and  detached  as  the  temptation  was  felt 
to  spread  the  pattern  more  sparsely  over  the  net 
ground.  Owing  to  the  naturalistic  taste  of  the  day 
also,  the  finely  composed  conventional  ornament  of 
an  earlier  date  was  abandoned  in  favour  of  repre- 
sentations of  natural  fiowers.  A  still  later  but  better 
stvle  of  Brussels  Lace  is  the 


POINT    DUCHESSE. 

In  this  the  pattern  is  grounded  entirely  with  Pillow- 
made  "  brides,"  and  the  "  reseau  "  is  altogether  absent. 
The  designs  are  necessarily  more  continuous  than  in 
the   preceding   Lace,   and   they  are    often  very  good. 


Illustration  XXXII. 


Modern  Hrtssels. 
I.   Point  Duchesse.  2    Point   Plat  Appli(|ue. 


J/ 


BRUSSELS    NEEDLE-POINT  139 

The  name  of  this  Lace  is  of  comparatively  recent 
date,  but  the  style  itself  existed  earlier,  under  the 
designation  of  "  Guipure  fa^on  Angleterre." 

BRUSSELS    NEEDLE-POINT    LACE. 

Brussels  is  the  only  Flemish  centre  for  the  manu- 
facture of  Needle-point  lace. 

In  Flanders  lace-makincr  started  from  the  invention 
or  adoption  of  Pillow  lace,  and  it  seems  evident 
that  it  was  only  in  consequence  of  a  spirit  of 
emulation,  and  of  the  example  set  by  the  French 
lace-workers  of  Alencon,  that  needle  lace-makino;  was 
started  at  Brussels,  about  the  year  1720.  A  proof 
of  its  late  adoption  is,  that  Brussels  Needle-point 
was  never  made  with  "  brides "  only,  as  we  have 
seen  was  the  case  with  the  early  Needle  -  points  of 
Venice,  and  also  with  the  work  hrst  produced  in 
France. 

It  is  interestino-  here  to  note  how  the  influence 
of  neio'hbourin''"  countries  and  districts  acted  and 
reacted  on  each  other.  The  Needle-point  "  reseau " 
of  Alencon  was  practically  a  copy,  with  the  needle, 
of  the  pillow  ground  of  L"landers,  and  now  in 
turn  blemish  workers  borrowed,  or  more  probably 
stole,     from     L'rance     the     secrets    of     Needle     lace, 


I40  OF    FLEMISH    LACES 

including  the   invention  orioinally  copied  from  them- 
selves. 

The  earliest  Brussels  Point  very  nearly  resembles 
that  of  Alen^on.  The  work  is  generally,  however, 
not  quite  so  close  and  firm,  and  the  "  toile  "  is  looser 
and  flatter.  The  "cordonnet,"  instead  of  being  entirely 
covered  with  button-hole  stitches,  as  is  the  case 
with  Alencon  Lace,  is  left  in  an  unfinished  state  as 
a  strand  of  threads.  There  is  also  a  difference  in 
the  "  reseau "  ;  in  Brussels  Lace  it  is  made  with 
a  simple  looped  stitch,  whereas  in  the  Alengon 
"reseau"  the  loops  are  whipped  over  at  their  base 
with  an  additional  thread.  (See  Figs.  2,  3,  Illustra- 
tion I.)  This  peculiarity  has  been  continued  to  the 
present  day,  the  "  reseau  "  of  modern  "  Point  de  Gaze  " 
being  so  worked. 

The  style  of  the  designs  of  Brussels  Point  is 
rarely  of  so  fine  a  Renaissance  type  as  in  the  best 
French  Lace.  The  patterns  are  usually  such  as 
were  also  worked  at  the  time  on  the  pillow ;  but 
where  patterns  as  well  as  inventions  were  so 
frequently  interchanged,  it  is  impossible  to  draw 
any  certain  distinction  from  such  differences.  The 
uncovered  "  cordonnet  "  and  the  simply  looped 
"reseau"  are   the   safest   indications. 

The   earliest    Brussels    Needle-point  was   grounded 


Illustration  XXXIII. 


1.    (_)lil    l-Irusstls  NcLclk-piiinl.. 


2.    Modern  lirussels  Needle-point  Applique. 
142 


POINT   APPLIQUE  143 

with  a  needle  "reseau,"  but  examples  of  such  Lace 
are  not  very  common.  The  Brussels  lace-makers 
were  justly  celebrated  for  their  beautiful  Pillow-made 
*'  reseau,"  and  being  more  familiar  with  its  practice 
they  seem  to  have  preferred  to  use  it.  Thus  we 
find  much  of  their  best  Needle  lace  grounded  with 
the  "  vrai  reseau"  worked  on  the  pillow,  in  the 
same  way  as  with  the  "  Point  d'Angleterre  "  ;  this  is 
the  case  with  the  specimen  shown  in  Fig.  i,  Illustra- 
tion XXXI 11. 

At  the  beo-innino-  of  this  centurv  Brussels  Needle 
lace  underwent  the  same  process  of  decline,  and 
from  the  same  causes  that  we  have  seen  to  have 
affected  the   Pillow  lace  ;    it  degenerated  into — 


POINT   APPLIQUE, 

that  is,  the  Needle  lace  pattern  instead  of  being- 
grounded  with  the  "  vrai  reseau,"  was  appliqued 
on  to  machine-made  net ;  and  as  the  demand  for  a 
less  expensive  style  of  work  grew  greater  at  the 
same  time  that  labour  became  dearer,  the  patterns 
became  more  and  more  slender  and  were  more  thinly 
scattered  over  the  ground.  In  Illustration  XXXIII, 
two  specimens  are  shown.  Fig.  i  represents  a  piece 
of   early   Brussels    Point    grounded    with    the    Pillow- 


144  OF    FLEMISH    LACES 

made  "  vrai  reseau,"  and  Fig.  2  a  late  piece  of 
"  Point  Applique."  If  for  no  other  reason,  this  later 
style  is  to  be  deprecated  on  account  of  the  quality 
of  the  net.  which  is  always  partly,  often  entirely,  made 
of  cotton  ;  it  shrinks  the  first  time  it  is  washed, 
causing  the  curves  of  the  needle-worked  pattern  to 
become  crumpled  and  shapeless,  and  if,  in  order 
to  avoid  this  misfortune,  the  Lace  is  sent  to  Brussels 
to  be  cleaned,  it  is,  we  understand,  only  possible  to 
do  so  by  dipping  it  in  white  lead,  with  the  certain 
result  that  the  whole  will  in  time  turn  the  colour 
of  rust. 

POINT    DE    GAZE. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  record  that  of  late  years  an 
honest  return  has  been  made  by  the  Brussels  lace- 
workers  to  earlv  Needle-point  traditions.  The  beauti- 
ful modern  Lace  known  as  "Point  de  Gaze  '  is  made 
entirely  with  the  needle,  and  is  grounded  with  its 
own  ''reseau."  Partly  to  suit  modern  taste  in  design, 
and  partly  perhaps  from  economy  of  work  when 
labour  is  so  dear,  the  execution  is  much  more  open 
and  slight  than  in  the  early  Lace,  but  this  very  slight- 
ness  is  skilfully  made  use  of  to  produce  an  extremely 
elegant  effect;  part  of  the  "  toile  "  is  made  in  close 
and    part    in    open    stitch,    giving    an    appearance    oi 


Illustration  XXXTV. 


Modern  Brussels  Needle-point — "  Point  de  Gaze." 
U  145 


POINT   DE   GAZE  147 

shading,  and  the  open  parts  are  very  prettily  en- 
riched with  dottino-.  If  to  those  who  dehcrht  in 
the  soft  richness  of  the  work  of  former  times  the 
execution  of  the  "Point  de  Gaze"  seems  somewhat 
thin  and  loose,  and  the  style  of  the  patterns  rather 
too  naturalistic,  it  must  be  allowed  that  to  manv,  the 
result  produced  is  a  certain  lightness  and  delicacy 
to  which  the  old  Brussels  Point  did  not  attain  ;  and 
one  must  be  glad  that  when  an  almost  unlimited 
demand  for  cheaper  goods  is  in  every  direction  Hood- 
ing the  market  and  pressing  down  the  price  at  which 
Lace  can  be  sold,  the  Brussels  craftsmen  should  have 
taken  up  again  their  old  Art  and  have  been  able  to 
produce  so  beautiful  a  fabric. 


OF   FLEMISH    LACE. 

The  best  known  Flemish  Laces,  other  than 
Brussels,  are :  Mechlin,  Binche,  Ypres,  and  Ant- 
werp. 

All  these  belono-  to  that  class  of  Pillow  lace  which 
is  made  in  one  piece  on  the  pillow,  the  same  threads 
passing  across  the  whole  width  of  the  Lace  and  form- 
ing both  the  ground  and  the  pattern.  (See  diagram, 
p.  127.) 


148  OF   FLEMISH    LACES 


MECHLIN    (/>.    MALINES). 

All  Flemish  Lace  was  at  one  time  classed  under 
this  name,  but  the  earliest  that  can  be  distinctively 
so  called  was  made  with  a  "  reseau  "  ground  about 
the  year  1720.  The  special  characteristics  of  Mechlin 
Lace  are  :  first,  the  "  cordonnet "  of  a  fiat  silky  thread 
which  always  outlines  the  pattern  ;  and,  secondly,  the 
hexaofonal  mesh  of  the  "reseau."  It  is  made  of  two 
threads  twisted  twice  on  four  sides,  and  four  threads 
plaited  three  times  on  the  two  other  sides  ;  thus  the 
plait  is  shorter,  and  the  mesh  consequently  smaller 
than  that  of  Brussels  Lace.  (See  Illustration  II.,  Figs. 
3,  4.)  This  Lace  is  sometimes  grounded  with  an 
ornamental  "  reseau,"  instead  of  one  in  the  usual  hexa- 
gonal shape,  called  "  Fond  de  neige  "  or  "  CEil  de 
perdrix,"  and  also  occasionally  with  the  six-pointed 
"  Fond  Chant,"  but  these  varieties  are  not  common. 

In  the  earliest  Mechlin  Lace  the  style  of  designs 
very  much  resembles  that  of  Brussels,  though  rather 
heavier  and  less  graceful  ;  it  is  needless  to  repeat, 
however,  that  though  the  patterns  may  be  alike,  the 
totally  different  method  of  construction  always  marks 
the  difference  between  the  two.   (See  p.  127.) 

The  quatrefoil   fiower   pattern    seen   in    Illustration 


Il.LUSTKAlION    XXXV 


Early   Mechlin. 
149 


MFXHLIN  151 

XXXV.,  as  a  filling-  to  the  spaces  of  the  conventional 
scroll-work,  is  very  characteristic  of  this  period. 

Illustration  XXXVI.  shows  another  imitation  of 
Brussels  designs.  In  this  specimen  of  "  Malines  a 
brides"  the  peculiarities  of  "  Point  d' Angleterre "  are 
very  closely  followed,  even  to  the  open  spaces  filled 
in  with  "bride  "-like  "  a  jours." 

But  Mechlin,  when  at  the  height  of  its  popu- 
larity, had  evolved  a  style  of  its  own.  The  pattern, 
more  or  less  floral,  always  formed  the  edge  of  the 
Lace,  and  the  "  reseau  "  ground  was  sprinkled  with 
small  flowers  or  spots.  The  rose  and  the  carnation, 
two  very  favourite  flowers  with  lace-makers,  were 
represented  with  singular  fidelity.  The  Lace  of  this 
period  is  perhaps  one  of  the  prettiest  in  existence. 
It  is  so  light  and  soft,  the  pattern  and  the  "reseau" are 
so  well  balanced,  and  the  designs  so  graceful,  that 
it  well  deserves  its  title  of  the  Oueen  of  Laces,  The 
fine  Indian  muslins  which  became  the  fashion  at  the 
court  of  Marie  Antoinette  could  support  no  heavier 
ornament,  and  accordingly  we  see  it  abundantly  intro- 
duced in  the  portraits  of  the  day. 

In  England  it  has  been  always  a  favourite,  and 
few  are  the  collections  of  old  family  Lace  in  which 
some  beautiful  specimens  are  not  to  be  found. 

But  this  Lace,  like  all  others,  had  its  day  of  decline 


152  OF    FLEMISH    LACES 

in  taste  as  well  as  in  popularity.  The  French 
Revolution  was  a  blow  severely  felt,  and  when  the 
lace  trade  revived  under  the  Empire,  perhaps  the 
old  patterns  had  been  lost  or  forgotten,  or  were 
found  too  expensive  •  for  sale,  and  so  a  thinner  and 
more  meagre  style  of  design  was  adopted.  But  the 
revival  was  not  long-lived,  and  now  the  manufacture 
is  altogether  discontinued. 

BINCHE. 

Lace  of  a  very  fine  and  delicate  description  is 
attributed  to  this  town. 

Its  characteristics  are,  that  there  is  either  no 
"  cordonnet "  at  all  outlining  the  pattern,  or  that  the 
"  cordonnet "  is  scarcely  a  thicker  thread  than  that 
which  makes  the  "toile."  The  ground  can  scarcely 
be  called  a  "reseau,"  for  there  are  no  meshes,  but 
instead,  a  spider's-web-like  material,  closely  sprinkled 
with  small  round  spots  or  discs.  It  is  called  a  "  F^ond 
de  neiire,"  and  in  truth  reallv  resembles  snowflakes. 
The  whole  is  more  like  a  delicate  cobweb  than  any 
other  work  of  woman's  fingers. 

This  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  Flemish  Laces,  as 
is  shown  by  the  absence  of  any  regular  "reseau." 
The  kind  of  work  has  now  been  quite  given  up,  and 
Mrs.    Palliser    says   that    the    lace-makers   of    Binche 


Illustration  XXXVI. 


I.   Early  Mechlin   "a  brides."  2.   Later  Mechlin   "a  brides." 

X  153 


o 


H 


C 


155 


TROLLE   KANT  iS7 

in    her    time    employed    themselves    in    making    the 
sprigs  for  Brussels  Point  plat  applique. 

On  the  same  illustration  is  shown  a  specimen  of 
so-called  Trolle  Kant ;  Kant  being  the  Flemish  word 
for  Lace,  and  Trolle,  to  judge  from  the  use  of  the 
corresponding  word  "Trolly"  in  Buckinghamshire, 
signifying  the  coarse  outlining  "  cordonnet."  The 
specimen  is  interesting  as  being  a  rough  representa- 
tion of  the  general  style  of  early  Flemish  designs. 


YPRES. 

As  has  been  said  on  page  102,  the  manufacture  of 
Valenciennes  Lace,  which  has  entirely  disappeared 
from  the  place  of  its  birth,  has  been  continued  at 
Ypres  and  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  Lace  is  made 
in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  was  formerly  the 
"  Vraie  Valenciennes,"  but  it  is  inferior  in  workman- 
ship, and  in  variety  and  beauty  of  design.  Its 
character  is  too  well  known  to  require  description  ; 
it  need  only  be  said  here  that  like  the  old  Valen- 
ciennes, the  pattern  is  not  outlined  with  any  "  cor- 
donnet," and  that  the  "  reseau  "  is  made  with  a  plait 
of  four  threads,  and  forms  a  diamond-shaped  mesh. 


158  OF   FLEMISH    LACES 


ANTWERP. 

The  best  known  Lace  made  at  Antwerp  is  the 
so-called  "  Potten  Kant,"  or  Pot  lace,  from  the 
representation  of  a  pot  or  vase  of  flowers  with 
which  it  is  always  decorated.  Some  have  considered 
this  pattern  to  be  a  survival  from  an  earlier  design, 
includino-  the  figure  of  the  Viroin  and  the  Annuncia- 
tion,  thoLioh  it  does  not  seem  certain  that  any  such 
larger  composition  has  ever  been  seen.  The  pot 
varies  very  much  in  size  and  details.  The  accom- 
panying illustration  shows  a  very  handsome  one, 
with  some  exceedingly  well-represented  carnation 
flowers  ;  but,  large  or  small,  no  Antwerp  woman's  cap 
was  in  former  days  considered  properly  trimmed 
without  this  ornament.  The  Lace  is  usually  grounded 
with  a  coarse  "  Fond  Chant." 

hi  various  places  in  Flanders,  beside^  those  above 
mentioned,  many  kinds  of  Lace,  more  or  less  coarse, 
have  been  made,  but  without  any  such  special  dis- 
tinction as  to  require  separate  notice  ;  they  can  be 
usually  recognised  as  Flemish  by  a  resemblance  to 
the  characteristics  already  described,  as  those  of  the 
more  important  manufactures. 


> 

X 
X 
X 

o 


159 


Limerick  Lace. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

OF  ENGLISH  AND  IRISH   LACE. 

LiNKN  Cut-work  was  made  in  England  very  ex- 
tensively during  the  sixteenth  century.  It  was  a 
favourite  accomplishment  of  the  ladies  ot  Queen 
Elizabeth's  time,  and  it  supplied,  moreover,  a  profit- 
able occupation  for  a  large  class  of  professional 
workwomen.  There  was  an  enormous  demand  for 
Lace  of  the  finer  sort  for  rufts,  and  the  thicker 
linen  Lace  was  largely  used  to  trim  sheets  and 
table  linen,  etc.  We  see  it  represented  on  the  cradle 
monument  to  the  infant  daughter  of  James  thi;   iMrst 

Y  i6i 


i62  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  also  on  the  dress  of 
her  elder  sister,  whose  recumbent  figure  in  effig-y 
lies  hard  by.  An  actual  relic  of  the  kind,  possessing 
a  peculiar  interest,  is  to  be  found  to  this  day  in  a 
cottage  In  the  village  of  Shottery,  in  Warwickshire, 
which  is  still  occupied  by  descendants  of  the  family 
of  Anne  Hathaway,  Shakespeare's  wife.  On  an  old 
oak  bedstead  in  an  upstairs  room  there  is  displayed 
the  best  linen  sheet  which,  as  tradition  says,  was 
kept  for  special  family  occasions,  such  as  births, 
christenings,  weddings,  funerals,  etc.  It  has  a 
narrow  strip,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  wide,  of 
Cut-work  made  in  the  linen,  and  joining  two 
breadths  together  where  there  would  otherwise  be 
a  seam.  The  pattern  is  of  a  very  simple  zigzag 
character.  The  bolster  cover,  now  kept  in  a  frame, 
has  a  rather  wider  band  of  a  more  ambitious  design, 
but  of  the  same  style  of  work.  There  seems  every 
reason  to  believe  that  this  relic  is  authentic,  and  as 
it  might  very  well  date  from  Elizabethan  times,  it 
is  possible  that  our  great  poet  himself  may  have  seen 
or  even  used  this  bed  furniture  in  the  house  of  his 
wife's  parents. 

Besides  articles  for  use,  domestic  or  otherwise,  a 
considerable  number  of  samplers  have  come  down 
to    us.      They   were    worked    at   schools    or   kept    as 


o 


H 

►J 


u 


i65 


HONITON    LACE  165 

collections  of  patterns  of  embroidery  by  industrious 
housewives.  Illustration  XXXIX.  represents  part  of 
one  in  the  collection  of  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  with  two  patterns  of  Cut-work,  rather 
clumsy  and  heavy  in  style,  but,  as  will  be  seen, 
worked  in  the  usual  Italian  manner.  (See  Illus.  I., 
Fig.  5.)  Bands  of  embroidery  patterns  of  various 
kinds  other  than  Cut-work  fill  up  a  strip  of  linen  of 
about  a  yard  and  a  half  long.  It  is  signed  and 
dated  "Elizabeth  Mackett  1696."  But  beyond  Cut- 
work,  no  great  amount  of  Needle  lace  seems  ever 
to  have  been  made  in  England.  Bone  lace  (that 
is,  Pillow  lace)  is  constantly  alluded  to  in  Queen 
Elizabeth's  wardrobe  accounts,  and  though  a  good 
deal  no  doubt  came  from  Flanders  and  Genoa, 
there  is  evidence  to  show  that  by  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century  the  native  lace-making' 
trade  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  in  many  parts 
of  Eno'land. 

Its  chief  centres  have  always  been  in  Devonshire 
(especially  Honiton),  Bedfordshire,  and  Buckingham- 
shire. 

HONITON    LACE. 

It  has  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
name  "  Point  d'Angleterre "  that  the  theory  is  some- 


i66  OF   ENGLISH   AND    IRISH    LACE 

times  entertained  that  this  Lace  orio-inated  in  Eno'land, 
and  was  only  afterwards  transferred  to  Brussels,  The 
probability,  however,  seems  to  be  that,  on  the 
contrary,  the  Art  came  to  England  from  Flanders, 
as  some  have  supposed  in  consequence  of  an 
immigration  of  Protestants  during  a  time  of  perse- 
cution. However  that  may  be,  Mrs.  Tread  win 
mentions  in  her  valuable  book  on  Antique  Point 
and  Houitou,  that  Pillow  lace  of  some  sort  was 
made  in  this  district  some  time  before  the  year 
1617.  It  was  probably  not  at  all  like  that  now 
produced  in  Devonshire,  but  rather  a  sort  of  open 
woven  braid  with  a  simple  diamond-shaped  lozenge 
pattern  of  a  kind  still  sometimes  to  be  met  with. 
Our  present  use  of  the  word  Lace  in  "  bootlaces," 
etc.,  may  be  a  clue  to  what  was  called  Lace  in 
early  English  times — namely,  a  plaited  braid,  more  or 
less  ornamental. 

During  the  troubles  of  the  Civil  War  and  the 
Commonwealth  ornament  in  dress  was  naturally 
in  abeyance,  but  on  the  return  of  the  Court  in  1660 
Lace  also  resumed  its  place  in  society.  It  was, 
however,  speedily  confronted  with  difficulties  of  a 
fiscal  nature,  when,  in  order  to  increase  the  revenue 
and  also  perhaps  to  protect  native  trade,  prohibitive 
duties   were   put   upon    its    importation    from   abroad. 


HONITON    LACE  167 

We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter  how  these  were 
evaded  ;  it  was  doubtless,  however,  at  this  time,  and 
in  consequence  of  these  duties,  that  Flemish  lace- 
workers  must  have  been  induced  to  come  over  to 
England  to  teach  their  art  in  Devonshire.  The 
absolute  identity  in  the  method  of  working  Honiton 
and  Brussels  Lace  can  scarcely  otherwise  be  accounted 
for. 

Early  Devonshire  Lace  appears,  however,  some- 
times to  have  had  one  peculiarity  distinguishing  it 
both  from  Ikussels  and  from  the  later  Honiton. 
It  is  the  use  of  an  outlinino-  "  cordonnet  "  or  trolly  or 
gimp,  from  which  it  was  locally  known  as  Troll)' 
lace. 

The  development  of  this  Lace  has  followed  much 
the  same  course  as  did  those  of  Flanders.  As  with 
Brussels  "  Point  d'Angleterre,"  the  pattern  part  of 
Honiton  having  been  made  first  on  the  pillow  by 
itself,  the  "  reseau "  in  early  times  was  worked  in 
round  it,  also  on  the  pillow ;  but  later,  after  the 
invention  of  machine  -  made  net,  the  principle  of 
"applique"  work  was  also  adopted  in  England,  and 
this  cheaper  and  inferior  material  was  substituted  for 
the  hand-made  oround. 

The  difference  between  Honiton  and  Brussels 
Pillow   lace    is    one    of   quality   rather    than   of   kind. 


i68  OF   ExXGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

Eno-lish    desiorns    have    been    as    a    rule    less    artistic 
than  those  in   use  in   Brussels. 

Even  in  the  best  specimens  produced  during  the 
early  part  of  this  century  garlands  and  bouquets  of 
natural  flowers  have  been  put  together  without  much 
idea  or  knowledge  of  composition.  The  execution, 
also,  was  in  general  less  finished  and  delicate  than 
in  good  Brussels  Lace.  But  these  remarks  apply 
rather  to  the  past  ;  of  late  years  schools  of  Design 
and  the  emulation  excited  by  International  Exhibi- 
tions have  much  improved  the  character  of  English 
Lace  on  both  points.  The  difference  between  the 
two  specimens  shown  in  Illustration  XL.  will  be  at 
once  noticed.  No.  i  represents  Lace  made  in  the 
early  half  of  this  century.  The  fiower  sprigs  are 
rather  thick  and  heavy  in  shape  and  are  "  appliqued  " 
on  to  machine-made  net.  No.  2  shows  a  recent 
production.  The  pattern  is  bold  and  continuous  as 
well  as  graceful,  and  the  ground  is  a  very  good  needle- 
worked  "  reseau  " — it  is  a  mixed  Lace,  in  fact.  Much 
of  the  best  Honiton  now  made  is  in  this  style.  A 
"Duchesse"  lace,  very  similar  to  that  made  in 
Brussels  (see  Illustration  XXXII.),  is  also  now 
worked  in   Devonshire. 


Illustration  XL. 


I.   Honilon  Applique. 
Z 


2.    Ilonitiin  Appli(_|ucj  wiih  needle  "reseau'  ground. 
169 


BUCKINGHAMSHIRE    LACE  171 


BUCKINGHAMSHIRE   AND  BEDFORDSHIRE  LACE. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  while  Catherine  of  Aragon, 
the  forsaken  Queen  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  was  hving 
at  Ampthill  Park,  in  Bedfordshire,  about  1532, 
waiting  with  what  patience  she  might  for  the  decision 
of  the  Pope  respecting  her  divorce,  she  beguiled 
her  sadness  by  exercising  her  own  skill  in  needle- 
work and  required  the  ladies  of  her  household  to 
do  the  same.  Not  only  so,  but  she  interested  her- 
self in   teaching'  lace  -  nlakincr   to   the   villatre   women 

i3  O  O 

of  the  district,  and  this  was  the  origin  of  the  Bed- 
fordshire lace  industry.  To  confirm  the  truth  of  the 
story,  it  is  said  that  till  well  within  the  present  cen- 
tury the  name-day  of  the  kind  but  most  unhappy  lady, 
St.  Catherine's  Day,  the  25th  November,  was  annually 
kept  as  a  treat-day  for  young  lace-makers,  and  chil- 
dren expected  a  feast  of  cakes  and  sweets,  and  called 
the  day  "  Kattern's  Day."  St.  Catherine  is  also  the 
patron  saint  of  girls  and  unmarried  women.  But 
the  Lace  then  taught  by  the  Spanish  princess  to  the 
Bedfordshire  women  was  certainly  not  anvthino-  like 
the  present  Pillow  lace  ;  more  probably  it  was  Cut- 
work  or  Reticella  made  out  of  linen,  an  Art  which 
we  know  to  have  been  practised  in  Italy  and   Spain 


172  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

at  the  time,  and  which  there  is  the  early  evidence  of 
old  English  samplers  to  prove  was  also,  though  with 
less  taste,  made  in  England. 

Some  thirty  years  after  Queen  Catherine's  death 
another  impetus  was  given  to  the  lace  industry  by 
the  arrival  in  the  neiohbourhood  of  certain  Flemish 
lace  -  workers,  who  had  fled  from  the  persecutions 
of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  and  settled  in  the  soutli 
midland  counties.  These  introduced  a  kind  ot 
Pillow  lace  known  by  the  name  of  "  Bone  lace." 

The  earliest  mention  of  Lace  under  this  name  is  in 
1554,  when  it  is  said  to  have  trimmed  the  dress  worn 
by  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  at  his  execution  ;  in  the 
accounts  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  wardrobe  the  name 
is  of  constant  recurrence. 

After  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in 
1685,  another  immigration  of  foreign  lace-makers  took 
place,  this  time  from  the  French  provinces  bordering 
on  Flanders,  and  it  is  doubtless  to  these  last  that  the 
distinctly  Flemish  character  of  the  old  Bedfordshire 
and  Buckinohamshire  Lace  is  to  be  attributed. 

Again,  in  1794  it  is  recorded  in  the  Annual 
Register  that  "a  number  of  engenuous  french  emi- 
grants have  found  employment  in  the  manufacture 
of  Lace  "  in  these  counties.  Thus  it  would  seem  as 
though  one  forei":n  settlement  attracted  another. 


O 

H 
<; 


1) 
■a 


S 

s 


CQ 


03 
CO 


m 


174 


BUCKINGHAMSHIRE   LACE  175 

The  Lace  of  the  two  counties  may  be  classed  to- 
gether as  being  practically  the  same.  They  belong- 
to  that  class  of  Lace  which  is  worked  in  one  piece 
on  the  pillow  (see  p.  126),  and  in  their  general 
character  and  style  of  design  they  strongly  resemble 
the  Lace  manufactured  at  Lille.  The  "  reseau " 
ground  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  of  Lille  Lace, 
that  is,  it  is  composed  of  two  threads  twisted  and 
simply  crossed,  not  plaited,  at  their  junction.  The 
mesh  varies  a  little  in  shape,  from  a  four-sided 
diamond  shape  to  a  hexagon,  according  as  the  threads 
at  crossing  are  drawn  tighter  or  left  loose  and  long. 
Like  Lille,  the  pattern  of  Buckinghamshire  Lace  is 
oudined  with  a  coarse  silky  thread,  called  locally  the 
"Trolly,"  from  the  Flemish  word  "  Trolle." 

The  style  of  designs,  also,  of  the  English  Lace  has 
been  clearly  inlluenced  by  Lille  models.  There  are 
often  the  same  oval-shaped  openings  filled  with 
various  fancy  "a jours."  In  No.  2,  Illustration  XLI., 
a  specimen  is  shown  which  goes  by  the  name  of 
"Spider  lace,"  on  account  of  the  open-work  filling. 
No.  I  represents  what  is  called  "  Baby  lace,"  a 
variety  with  a  finer  ^'reseau"  and  smaller  pattern, 
made  on  purpose  for  trimming  baby-linen  ;  and  here 
again,  by  the  small  square  dots  on  the  ground,  one 
is  reminded  of  a  frequent  peculiarity  in  Lille  Lace. 


176  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

From  the  time  of  the  first  Flemish  settlement 
till  almost  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  the 
lace  industry  gave  constant  occupation  to  many 
hundreds  of  women  and  children  in  the  district. 
Its  chief  centres  were  at  Great  ?^Iarlow,  Olney, 
Stony  Stratford,  Newport  Pagnel,  and  High 
Wycombe ;  but  these  towns  were  probably  only 
where  the  Lace  was  collected  from  the  workers,  to 
be  sold  by  middle-men,  the  work  itself  being  carried 
on  in  most  of  the  country  villages.  It  was  still  then 
called  Bone  lace  ;  the  origin  of  the  term  is  not 
easy  to  ascertain.  Several  explanations  have  been 
given — that  the  little  bones  of  sheeps'  trotters  were 
at  first  used  as  bobbins  ;  that  till  the  brass  pins 
used  in  lace  -  makino-  for  fixing  the  work  in  its 
place  became  cheap  enough  to  be  general,  fishbones 
were  substituted  ;  also  that  the  patterns  were 
pricked  out  on  thin  plates  of  bone  instead  of  on 
the  parchment  in  later  use.  The  fact  that  the 
Lace  has  also  been  called  "Parchment  lace"  o-ives 
a  colour  to  this  last  theory. 

Old  bobbins  are  often  found  made  of  bone  instead 
of  wood.  They  are  sometimes  very  curiously 
decorated,  indeed  thev  seem  to  have  been  often  used 
as  love-tokens  between  the  young  people  of  the  day. 
Thev  are  to  be  seen  stained  with  red  or  other  colours, 


OLD   BOBBINS  177 

and  ingeniously  turned  in  ribs  or  stripes;  rings  of  metal 
are  fastened  to  them  at  intervals,  or  brass  wire  is  wound 
round  them,  and  "gingles"  or  bunches  of  coloured 
beads  are  hung  from  the  end  strung  on  a  loop  of  wire, 
these  last  beinir  also  of  use  in  increasing  the  tension 
of  the  thread  by  adding  to  the  weight  of  the  bobbin  ; 
and,  lastly,  mottoes  of  various  kinds  are,  so  to  speak, 
tattooed  on  them,  the  letters  being  outlined  by 
pricked  holes  filled  with  colour.  Sometimes  it  is 
the  name  of  the  giver,  as  "dear  Joseph,"  which  is 
so  inscribed  ;  sometimes  the  girl's  name,  as  "  sarah  "  ; 
and  sometimes  a  three-lined  motto,  as — 

"love  me  or 
leave  me  a 
lone  for  ever." 

Not  only  the  bobbins,  but  the  pillow  also  was  the  sub- 
ject of  much  pride  and  pleasure,  and  even  the  pins 
were  objects  of  ornamentation.  Children  gathered 
the  little  prickly  seeds  of  the  hedgerow  Bed-straw 
{Galiunt)  and  threaded  them  on  the  pins,  which,  when 
dry,  formed  little  brown  heads  as  hard,  and  much  the 
same  colour  as  if  made  of  walnut  wood. 

An    illustration   of   some   ornamented   bobbins   and 
also  of   a   Lace   token   will    be   found   at   the   end    of 

this  chapter.     The  latter  were  used  by  employers  of 
2  A 


1/8 


OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 


labour  as  payment  to  their  work-people  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century,  when  the  country  seems  to  have 
suffered  from  a  scarcity  of  mint-coined  money.  They 
were  issued  as  country  bank-notes  are  now,  and 
were  redeemable  at  a  fixed  rate  when  presented  to 
the  central  office. 

Illustration  XLII. 


^ILiniiiiL^— — -  '=^1 


An  (Jlcl  Lace  Chest. 

The  old  oak  chest  shown  above  is  another  relic 
of  the  prosperous  clays  of  lace-making  in  Buckingham- 
shire. The  upper  part  was  intended  to  hold  the 
lace   pillow,  while    the   drawers    below  were    to    take 

the  bobbins  and  patterns. 

It  was  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  this  century, 

however,  that  Machine  lace  was  invented  and  became 

generally  known,   and   thenceforward   the   hand-made 


BUCKINGHAMSHIRE   LACE  179 

Lace  trade  had  but  a  precarious  existence.  In  order 
to  keep  the  favour  of  the  purchasing  pubhc,  continual 
changes  have  been  made  in  the  style  of  the  Lace 
produced.  Silk  Lace  called  "  Blonde  " — because  being- 
made  with  raw  silk  it  was  "  fair,"  not  white  in  colour — 
was  one  of  the  earliest  new  introductions  ;  to  that 
succeeded  Maltese  and  the  so-called  "Cluny,"  named 
after  no  place  of  its  manufacture,  but  from  the 
Museum  of  Antiquities  in  the  Hotel  Cluny  in  Paris, 
and  because  the  Lace  was  supposed  to  have  a 
mediaeval  appearance.  It  is  a  plaited  Lace,  somewhat 
resembling  the  Genoese  and  Maltese  Laces,  and  is 
made  both  in  black  silk  and  in  white  cotton.  And 
here,  alas  !  is  the  secret  of  the  inferiority,  and  much 
of  the  want  of  success  of  this  modern  English  Lace  ; 
it  is  almost  always  made  of  cotton,  and  not  linen 
thread,  the  probable  reason  being  that  the  material 
is  more  within  the  means  of  the  cottage  workers. 
After  Clunv  came  coloured  worsted  Lace  and  Torchon 
lace,  and  this  is  now  the  kind  mostly  produced. 
Besides,  however,  the  competition  of  steam  machinery, 
and  the  consequent  lowering  of  prices,  another  enemy 
has  latelv  come  into  the  held  aQ^ainst  the  Bucking- 
hamshire  lace-workers,  in  the  shape  of  the  Board 
of  Education.  Children  in  former  times  beo-an  to 
learn    to    use    their    bobbins    at    five    vears    old,    and 


i8o  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

at  twelve  were  able  to  support  themselves  entirely 
by  their  work,  and  it  is  said,  with  some  show  of 
reason,  that  unless  the  Art  is  so  acquired  by  the 
workers  when  very  young,  there  is  but  small  likeli- 
hood that  sufficient  skill  will  ever  be  attained  to 
make  it  remunerative  at  the  low  prices  for  which 
alone  Lace  can  be  sold.  But  the  inspector  insists 
that  the  children  shall  be  sent  to  school,  and  such 
short  time  as  is  allowed  for  school  instruction  in  work 
is  not  spent  in  teaching  lace-making.  So  it  comes 
to  pass  that  the  young  girls  of  this  generation  have 
not  learnt  the  work  properly,  and  do  not  care  to 
practise  it  ;  and  the  Lace  that  is  made  now,  and 
for  which  a  market  is  anxiously  sought,  is  made 
bv  the  old  women  of  a  former  o-eneration  between 
sixty  and  seventy  years  old  and  more.  And  when 
in  a  few  years  time  they  must  have  passed  away, 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  Art  of  lace-making,  in  this 
district  at  any  rate,  will  have  disappeared  also  with 
them. 

Great  efforts  have  been  and  are  still  being  made, 
however,  to  save  this  national  Art  from  extinction. 
Exhibitions  are  organised,  and  prizes  offered  for 
the  best  work  by  such  gentry  of  the  district  as 
are  kindly  disposed  towards  their  poorer  neigh- 
bours,   and    whiitever    mav    be    the   results  of   these 


IRISH    LACES  i8i 

efforts,  much  sympathy  must  be  felt  for  their  object. 
For,  apart  from  the  fact  that  one  must  regret  to  see 
the  disappearance  of  any  of  our  old  English  handi- 
crafts, this  one,  as  we  have  seen,  has  in  former 
times  been  a  source  of  great  interest  and  pride,  as 
well  as  of  income,  to  the  poor  cottage  women,  who 
otherwise  have  so  few  interests  and  pleasures  outside 
the  weary  round  of  their  household  and  family  duties. 
No  one  who  has  known  anything  of  the  monotonous 
life  of  the  English  peasantry  could  do  otherwise 
than  regret  that  such  an  additional  object  of  interest 
should  be  lost  to  them. 


IRISH   LACES. 

Attempts  have  been  made  at  various  times,  both 
during  this  century  and  the  last,  to  assist  the 
peasantry  of  Ireland  by  instruction  in  lace-making, 
and  considerable  success  has  often  been  the  result. 
As  early  as  1743  the  Royal  Dublin  Society  granted 
prizes  to  be  awarded  by  Lady  Arabella  Denny  to 
those  who  excelled  in  the  work  ;  but  at  her  death, 
thirty  years  afterwards,  the  undertaking  came  to  an 
end.  The  experiment  was  again  repeated  with  more 
permanent  results  in  1S20,  and  again  in  1847,  at  the 
time   of   the  famine.      It  was  then  that  crochet- work 


i82  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

was  introduced;  very  good  patterns  of  old  Lace  were 
procured,  and  the  Irish  girls  soon  showed  great  skill 
in  copying  them.  The  work  was  vitiated  by  the 
use  of  cotton  instead  of  linen  thread,  a  mistake 
so  generally  made  in  recent  Lace  revivals.  Cotton 
may  look  fairly  well  when  first  worked,  but  it  does 
not  keep  its  firmness  and  colour  as  does  pure 
flax,  and  when  washed  becomes  loose  and  woolly 
in  appearance. 

Following  crochet  came  a  better  style  of  work, 
encouraged  and  stimulated  by  the  "  Ladies'  Industrial 
Society,"  namely,  Needle-point  copies  of  old  Venetian 
Lace.  These  were  sometimes  executed  with  a  fair 
amount  of  skill,  though,  for  economical  reasons 
doubtless,  the  copies  fell  far  short  of  the  originals 
in  the  fineness  and  closeness  of  the  stitches  ;  where 
ten  stitches  were  put  into  the  old  work,  five  or 
even  less  were  made  to  answer  the  purpose  in 
the  new. 

However,  the  Exhibition  of  Irish  Lace  at  the 
Mansion  House  in  18S3  did  much  to  make  it  known 
to  the  purchasing  public.  It  also  encouraged  those 
who  supervised  and  taught  the  work  in  Ireland  to 
raise  their  standard  of  excellence  in  the  matter  of 
workmanship  and  design,  and  to  extend  the  sphere 
of  their  labours. 


LIMERICK    LACE  183 

But  It  is  not  intended  here  to  give  any  detailed 
account  of  Lace  made  in  convents  and  schools, 
avowedly  reproductions  of  old  Italian  originals,  ex- 
cellent though  they  often  are.  There  are,  however,  two 
sorts  of  work,  now  carried  on  in  Ireland,  to  which 
attention  may  be  drawn  as  possessing  some  indi- 
viduality, namely,  the  net  embroideries  of  Limerick 
and  the  applique  and  cut  cambric  work  of  Carrick- 
macross.  They  should  both  be  more  correctly  de- 
scribed as  embroidery  than  as  Lace  in  the  usual 
sense  of  the  word  ;  but  as  they  have  the  appearance 
of  Lace,  and  are  often  very  excellent  both  in  effect 
and  design,  they  would  seem  deserving  of  some 
notice.  That  known  by  the  name  of  Limerick  Lace 
was  first  made  in  Nottingham  at  the  time  of  the 
invention  of  machine-net.  The  manufacture  was  trans- 
ferred to  Ireland  in  the  year  1829  by  Mr.  Charles 
Walker,  who,  while  studying  for  Holy  Orders,  married 
the  daughter  of  a  lace  manufacturer,  and  either  moved 
by  philanthropy  or  as  a  speculation,  took  over  to 
Ireland  twenty-four  girls  to  teach  the  work,  and 
settled  them  at  Limerick.  It  is  in  realitv  of 
French  origin,  being  the  same  as  the  "  Broderies 
de  Luneville"  which  have  been  produced  in  France 
since   1800. 

It  is  worked  in  two  ways,  either  by  embroidering 


i84  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

the  pattern  with  a  darning  stitch  on  the  net,  as 
shown  in  the  httle  heading  to  this  chapter,  or  with 
tambour  stitch  ;  spaces  left  in  the  pattern  are  filled 
in  with  ornamental  "a  jours"  also  worked  on  the 
net. 

Carrickmacross  is  either  appliqued  on  net  or  cut 
out  with  a  ground  of  "  brides ; "  either  way  it  is 
worked  on  muslin.  The  pattern  is  traced  with  close 
sewing,  and  the  muslin  is  then  cut  away  outside  the 
outline.      (See  Illustration  XLIII.) 


MACHINE-MADE   LACE. 

In  enumerating  the  various  kinds  of  Lace  made 
in  Great  Britain,  it  would  not  be  fair  to  omit  all 
mention  of  the  productions  of  the  Nottingham  looms. 
It  is  true  that  as  imitation  Lace  they  are  considered 
to  rank  very  low  in  the  scale  of  Art;  but  in  point  of 
execution  and  as  marvellous  triumphs  of  mechanical 
ingenuity,  they  surely  invite  admiration.  If  we 
wonder  at  the  work  of  the  skilful  hands  of 
the  Venice  and  Brussels  lace-makers,  it  may,  from 
certain  points  of  view,  be  a  matter  of  even  greater 
wonder  that  human  intellio-ence  should  have  com- 
pelled  steam  and  machinery  to  do  so  nearly  the 
same.      So  nearly,  yet  not  quite. 


c 

< 
Pi 
H 
t/; 


2  B 


185 


MACHINE-MADE   LACE  187 

The  lace-makinor  machine  was  evolved  in  Nottincj- 
ham  out  of  the  stockhig-loom  ;  and  it  will  be  readily 
understood  that  the  difficulty  was  not  so  much  to 
make  the  "toile"  for  the  pattern — the  stocking  stitch 
was  at  first  used  as  an  equivalent  for  that — as  to 
modify  the  machinery  so  as  to  divide  the  threads 
and  produce  the  open  net -work.  The  first  idea 
of  this  invention  is  attributed  to  a  common  factory 
hand,  Hammond  Lindley,  who,  one  day  about  the 
year  1760,  looking"  at  the  Pillow  lace  on  his  wife's 
cap,  conceived  a  plan  by  which  he  could  copy  it  on 
his  loom.  Improvements  worked  out  by  different 
inventors  succeeded  each  other,  till  at  last,  in  1810,  a 
fairly  good  net  was  produced.  It  was  called  "  Point 
net,"  and  in  connection  with  it  a  considerable 
industry  sprang  up  in  Nottinghamshire  and  the 
surrounding  district.  Thousands  of  women  were  em- 
ployed in  embroidering  on  this  net,  both  by  darning 
and  tambour  work.  It  is  the  work  referred  to  already 
in  the  section  on  Irish  Lace,  as  now  known  by  the 
name  of  Limerick  Lace.  In  the  beoinnin^-  of  this  cen- 
tury  this  Art  seems  to  have  been  practised  not  only  in 
Nottinghamshire  but  in  many  other  parts  of  England, 
for  the  writer  has  lately  seen  a  net  scarf  so  embroidered, 
the  work  of  an  old  lady  upwards  of  eighty,  still  alive, 
who  says  that  she  made  it  when  a  child  in  the  village 


i88  OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISH    LACE 

school  at  Woolhampton  in  Berkshire,  where  the  work 
was  taught  as  part  of  the  school  education  of  the 
day. 

But  to  return  to  Nottingham.  By  the  time  of  our 
gracious  Queen's  accession,  not  only  net,  but  also  very 
good  imitations  of  Flemish  Lace  had  been  achieved, 
and  the  extremely  effective  machine  Lace  of  all 
kinds  since  produced  is  well  known. 

If  it  should  now  be  asked  by  what  signs  such 
imitations  can  be  detected,  the  answer  to  this  inquiry 
must  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  negative  one.  Machine 
lace  is  not  made  with  looped  stitches  like  Needle- 
point lace,  nor  do  we  find  in  it  the  effect  of  plaited 
threads  as  in  Pillow  lace,  and  where  neither  of  these 
easily  recognised  features  can  be  discovered,  the  piece 
of  Lace  under  examination  may  fairly  be  presumed  to 
be  imitation.  As  positive  indications  it  may  be  ob- 
served that  the  "  toile  "  of  Machine  lace  is  often  found 
to  be  ribbed,  like  the  ribbed  texture  of  a  knitted 
stocking  ;  also  that  whereas  old  Needle  and  Pillow 
lace  is  always  worked  with  linen  thread,  Machine  lace 
is  very  generally  made  of  cotton. 

It  would  be  hopeless  to  attempt  to  describe  the 
various  substitutes  for  the  hand-made  lace-stitches 
which  the  machine-lace  maker  has  invented ;  they 
are  legion,   for  what  he   cannot   achieve   in   one   way 


MACHL\E-MADE    LACE  189 

he  does  in  another.  Nevertheless,  needle-lace  imi- 
tations were  generally  till  lately  very  easy  of 
detection.  But  where  man  intends  to  succeed  diffi- 
culties seldom  prove  insuperable.  Invention  this 
time  has  come  from  Switzerland,  and  in  connection 
with  the  well-known  Swiss  industry  of  embroidery 
on  cambric  and  muslin.  One  Jose  Heilmann,  a 
native  of  St.  Gall,  pondering-  on  the  work  of  his 
wife's  needle,  thought  to  himself  that  if  spinning, 
weaving,  and  printing  were  done  by  machinery,  then 
why  not  embroidery?  He  made  his  wife  teach  him 
to  embroider,  and  in  six  months'  time  he  had  invented 
a  machine  that  worked  with  six  needles  at  once.  His 
first  thought  was  to  take  it  to  England  ;  but  there, 
though  his  invention  had  many  admirers,  it  did  not 
find  a  purchaser.  It  was  in  1838,  at  a  time  when 
England  was  so  far  in  advance  of  the  Continental 
nations  of  Europe  in  machinery,  that  the  great  heads 
of  the  manufacturing  firms  thought  they  could  afford 
to  despise  foreign  ideas. 

Heilmann  returned  home,  and  a  Swiss  shopkeeper. 
Mange,  bought  his  machine.  It  was  rapidly  perfected, 
and  by  1868  hundreds  of  machines  were  turning  out 
most  excellent  work. 

This  has  recently  been  applied  to  the  imitation  of 
Venetian    Point  lace,    with    the    result    that  a   nearer 


IQO 


OF   ENGLISH    AND    IRISPI    LACE 


approach  than  ever  before  has  been  made  to  the 
reproduction  both  of  the  needle-worked  "  toile "  and 
also  of  the  ''bride"  work. 

Yet,  when  so  much  is  conceded,  there  re- 
mains the  indubitable  fact  that  the  productions 
of  machinery  can  never  possess  the  charm  of  the 
real  hand-made  work.  Musicians  tell  us  that  the 
performance  of  a  piano-organ,  even  the  most  per- 
fected of  its  kind,  is  flat  and  uninteresting  as 
compared  with  the  music  produced  by  a  fairly  good 
performer.  Even  so  with  Lace  made  by  machinery  ; 
the  most  perfect  must  by  reason  of  its  very  perfec- 
tion lack  the  impression  of  life  which  the  very  faults 
and  irreo-ularities  of  human  handiwork  can  alone 
produce.  We  are  so  made  that  the  imperfect  even, 
pleases  us  more  than  the  perfect,  if  it  tells  us  that 
human  beings  have  expended  time  and  zeal  in  their 
efforts  after  perfection. 


Old  English  Bobbins  and  a  Lace  Token. 


A   SUMMARY 

As  a  summary  of  what  has  been  written  in  the  fore- 
going chapters,  the  following  few  simple  statements 
may  be  found  useful  : — 

1.  Lace  worked  out  of  linen,  though  originating  in 
Italy,  was  also  worked  with  no  great  variation  of 
style  in  Spain,  France,  and  England,  and  in  the 
Greek  islands  ;  the  designs  are  usually  geometrical. 
(See  p.  24.) 

2.  The  words  "  Point  lace,"  properly  used,  signify 
Needle  lace  only,  and  are  misused  when  applied  to 
any  Pillow  lace  whatever.   (See  p.  xv.) 

3.  The  earliest  Point  lace  was  made  with  "brides." 
It  was  chiefly  made  in  Venice.  Some  was  produced 
at  Alencon  for  a  short  time  durino-  the  latter  half  of 
the  seventeenth  century  in  imitation  of  Venetian 
Point,  and  some  may  have  been  made  in  Spain. 

4.  Point     lace    with    "brides"    was     not     made    in 

Flanders.   (See  p.  139.) 

191 


192  A   SUMMARY 

5.  Point  lace  with  a  "  reseau "  ground  was  in- 
vented and  chiefly  made  at  Alen^on.  The  style  was 
adopted,  both  in  Brussels  and  Venice,  towards  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Brussels  Needle  lace 
is  most  frequently  grounded  with  a  Pillow  "reseau," 
(See  pp.  98,  143.) 

6.  The  most  marked  distinction  between  Point  and 
Pillow  lace  is  that  in  the  former  the  solid  parts  are 
seen  to  be  made  of  looped  button-hole  stitches,  while 
that  of  the  latter  resembles  woven  cambric  or  cloth 
in  texture.   (See  p.  6.) 

7.  Pillow  lace  divides  itself  into  two  classes,  accord- 
ing to  the  method  of  its  construction. 

(i)  When  the  pattern  is  worked  by  itself  on  the 
pillow  and  the  "reseau"  ground  is  worked  in  after- 
wards to  fit  round  it.  (See  p.  82.)  To  this  class 
belong  "  Punto  di  Milano,"  Brussels  Pillow  lace,  and 
Honiton  Lace. 

(2)  When  the  Lace  is  made  all  in  one  piece  on  the 
pillow,  the  same  threads  forming  both  "  toile "  and 
"reseau"  alike.  (See  p.  127.)  To  this  class  belong 
the  Italian  peasant  Laces,  all  French  Pillow  lace, 
all  Flemish  Pillow  lace,  except  Brussels,  and  all 
English  Lace  except  Honiton, 


A   SUMMARY  193 

8.  Pillow  lace  niaclc;  with  "brides"  is  earlier  in 
point  of  date  than  that  made  with  a  "  reseau  "  ground. 
(See  p.  122.) 

9.  Various  Pillow  laces  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  each  other  chiefly  by  the  construction  of  their 
"  reseau."  (See  p.  7.) 

10.  Machine-made  Lace  was  invented  towards  the 
entl  of  the  last  century,  and  was  not  perfected  till  the 
beginning  of  this  century.  (See  p.  187.)  Any  Lace, 
therefore,  known  to  be  older  than  1800  must  be  either 
Point  or  Pillow  lace. 


THE     END 


2   C 


INDEX 


Adriatic,  49. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  113. 

A  jours,   XV,   71,  81,   98,   114, 

J75- 
Alb,  Cardinal's,  38. 

Alengon,  9,  13,  50,  55,  61,  97, 
139,  140,  191,  192. 

—  Point  de,  91. 

Altar  frontal,  38. 

Alva,  Duke  of,  172. 

Ampthill  Park,  171. 

Angleterre,  92. 

A  nniial  Register^  172. 

Antwerp,  147,  158. 

Annunciation,  158. 

Applique,  xv,  136,  167. 

Aprons,  ^i,  y]. 

Arachne,  10. 

Argentan,  102. 

Argentella,  98. 

Athene,  11. 

B 

Baby  lace,  175. 

Bayeux,  i  1 4. 

I5edfordshire,  165.  171,  172. 

Bed-straw,  177, 

Belgium,  12,  67,  68,  102,  122. 

Berkshire,  188. 


'5'. 


10: 


Binche,  147,  152. 

Birds,  19. 

Blonde,  63,  114,  117,  179. 

Hoard  of  Education,  179. 

Bobbins,  xv,  i,  6,  60,  176,  177,  178, 

179. 
Bolbec,  118. 
Bolckow,  Mrs.,  42. 
Bolster,  60,  162. 
Bone,  x\',  176. 

—  lace,  XV,  33,  165,  172,  176. 
Border  lace,  75  76. 

Bosse,  Alaraham,  96. 
Braid,  27,  38. 
Breeches,  ^p. 

"  Brides,"  xv,  2,  5,  42,  45,  46,  63,  7 1, 
72,  76,  97,  122,  136,  139,  184,  191, 

193- 
Brides  picotees,"  32,  49,  71,  132. 

Bride  "-work,  42,  105,  190. 
Broderies  de  Lunevillc,  183. 
Brussels,  12,  13,  148,  166,  167,  168, 
184,  192. 

—  Lace,    ;9,    62,    126-147,    148, 
168. 

—  Needle  lace,  192. 
Point,  139,  140. 

—  Pillow  lace,  126,  127,  128,  192. 

—  Point,  140,  143,  147. 
plat  applique,  157 


"  Br 


195 


196 


INDEX 


Ikickinghamshire,    157,    165,     171, 

172,  175,  178,  179. 
Burano,  12,  41,  55,  56,  59,  61. 
—  Point,  61. 
Button-hole  stitch,  2,  5,  23,  36,  42, 

61,  67,  loi,  102,  140,  192. 

Byzantine,  19. 


mosaics,  64. 


C 


Caen,  1 14. 
Calvados,  117. 
Canons,  2)7- 
Cantu,  81. 
Caps,  37. 
Cardinal's  Alb,  38. 

—  Point,  38. 
Carnation,  106,  151,  158. 
Carnival  lace,  38. 
Carrickmacross,  183,  184. 
Catalonia,  63. 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  171. 
— ,  Queen,  172. 

Ceccia  la  Scarpariola,  56,  59. 
Chantilly,  114,  ii7- 
Charles  the  First,  36. 

—  the  Second,  38. 
Chichester,  Lady  Hamilton,  88. 
Church  furniture,  27. 

-  linen,  28. 
Cluny,  179. 
Col  rabattu,  36. 
Colbert,  91,  97- 
Cole,  Mr.  Alan,  125. 
Collar  lace,  75. 
Collars,  32. 
Cologne,  34. 
Commonwealth,  The,  166. 


Coques,  Gonzales,  125. 

Coral,  49. 

Coraline  Point,  49. 

Cord,  XV. 

Cordonnet,    xv,    16,    42,    45,    61, 

63,    loi,    102,    114,    140,    148, 

167. 
Corfu,  24. 

Cotton,  14,  179,  182. 
Coverlets,  38. 
Crochet  work,  181. 
Cuffs,  y:,,  -j7. 
Cut-work,   5,    10,    13,   15,  23,   24, 


27,   28 
165,  171- 


,   31,    34,    ^^S^    '61,    162, 


D 


Dalmatian  coast,  96. 

Darned   netting,   i,  6,   15,   19,   125, 

126. 
Darning  stitch,  184. 
Denny,  Lady  Arabella,  181. 
Dentelle  au  fuseau,  xv. 

—  d'Angleterre,  95. 

—  noire,  95. 

Devonshire,  166,  167,  168. 
Dieppe,  117,  118. 
DistatT,  14. 

Dogs,  19. 

Drawn-work,  5,  15,  16,  23. 
Dublin,  Royal  Society,  181. 
Duchesse  lace,  168. 

—  Point,  136. 

E 
Ecru,  1 14. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,   11,   12,   t,},,    161, 
165,  172. 


INDEX 


197 


Elizabeth  Mackett,  165. 
Embroidered  netting,  35. 
Embroideries,  33,  92. 
Embroidery,  14,  23,  165,  189. 

Empire,    The,     12,  98,     117, 

152. 

England,    132,    151,  165,    166, 

167,  172,  187,  189,  191. 

English  Lace,  161-181,  192. 
Eu,  1 1 8. 

Exhibition  of  Irish  Lace,  182. 
—  International,  168. 


Fambri,  M.  Paulo,  56. 
Fecamps,  1 18. 
Fishbones,  176. 

Flanders,  13,  68,  95,  113,  117,  121, 
122,  139,  158,  165,  166,  167,  172, 
191. 

Flandres,  92. 

Flaxen,  1 14. 

Flemish  Lace,  "j^,  121 -160,  188. 

—  pillow  lace,  192. 

—  Provinces,  68,  71,  97. 
Florence,  87. 

Fond  chant,  114,  148,  158. 

—  clair,  1 13. 

—  de  brides,  126. 

—  de  neige,  148,  152. 

—  simple,  113,  114. 

France,  37,  49,  63,  68,  102,  1 17,  132, 

139,  183,  191. 
— ,  Isle  de,  106. 
French  lace,  91-1 19. 
French  pillow  lace,  192. 
Fi'ontal,  altar,  38. 


(icnoa,  13,  64,  75,  76,  88,  98,  165. 
(jcnoesc  collar  lace,  87. 

—  Lace,  75,  179. 

—  tape  guipure,  76,  81. 
Geometrical,  14,  15,  23,  31. 
George  the  First,  135. 
George  the  Second,  135. 
Gerrardo,  Marc,  33. 
Gheltof,  Urbani,  60. 
Gimp,  XV,  38,  92. 

Gold,  27,  33,  35. 
Great  Marlow,  176. 
Greek  Islands,  19,  24,  191. 

—  Lace,  13,  15,24. 
Gros  point,  49. 

de  Venise,  38,  41,  42,  45. 

(jueuse,  92,  95. 

Guiper,  xv. 

Guipure,  xv,  38,  63,  72,  92. 

—  d'Art,  20. 

—  facon  d'Angletcrrc,  1 39. 


H 
Hand-looms,  14. 
made  lace,  i,  178. 

—  spun  thread,  128. 
Hathaway,  Anne,  162. 
Havre,  1 18. 
Head-dresses,  32. 
Heilmann,  Jose,  189. 
Hemstitch,  24,  32. 
Henry  the  Fourili,  1 13. 

—  the  Eighth,  11,  171. 
High  Wycombe,  176. 
Holbein,  1 1. 


198 


INDEX 


Holland,  125. 
Honeycomb  a  jours,  98. 
Honfleur,  1 18. 
Honiton,  165,  167,  168,  192. 

—  Lace,  165,  192. 

—  point,  XV. 
Horse-hair,  101. 
Horses,  19. 
Huguenots,  1 13. 
Hunsdon,  Lord,  33. 

I 

Industrial  Society,  Ladies',  182. 
Ionian  Islands,  13,  24,  27. 
Ireland,  181,  183. 
Irish  Lace,  161,  181-184,  187. 

Exhibition  of,  182. 

Isle  de  France,  106. 

Italian    Lace,     13,     14-88,     121, 

I  2^* 

—  Needle  lace,  14-63. 

—  Peasant  lace,  82,  87,  192. 

—  Pillow  lace,  64-88,  122. 

Italy,  15,  2,7,  45>  67,  68,  75,  171, 
191. 

Italy,  North,  13. 

J 

James  the  First,  36,  161. 


K 

Kattcrn's  day,  171. 
King  (of  Italy),  56. 
Knotted  lace,  64. 
—  \vork,  35. 
Knots,  XV. 


L 
Lace  chest,  1 78. 

—  makers,  60,  117,  143,  151,  152, 
172. 

—  making,  12,  13,61,  105,  135,  139. 

—  pillow,  178. 

—  tokens,  177,  190. 

—  workers,  135,  167,  172. 
Lacis,  I,  15,  19,  125. 

Ladies'  Industrial  Society,  182. 

La  Fontaine,  loi. 

Lamb,  20. 

Larmes,  Seme  de,  loi. 

Lawne  cut-work,  33. 

Lead,  xv. 

Leather  boots,  2,7- 

Lely,  Sir  Peter,  125. 

Le  Puy,  1 1 4. 

Lille,  113,  114,  175. 

Limerick,  183. 

—  Lace,  183,  187. 
Lindley,  Hammond,  187. 

Linen,  12,  14,  15,  i6,  19,  23,  24,  27, 
31,32,35,38,45-71,  161,  162,171, 
179,  191. 

Longueville,  Duchesse  de,  117. 

Lonray,  97. 

Louis  the  Fourteenth,  2)7,  9'- 

—  the  Fifteenth,  132. 

—  the  Sixteenth,  98. 
Louvain,  1 1. 

M 

Machine  lace,  i,  178,  184-190,  193. 

made   net,    135,   136,   143,   167, 

168. 

Mackett,  EHzabeth,  165. 

MacramcS  64,  67. 


INDEX 


199 


Malines,  148. 

—  ^  brides,  151. 
Maltese  Lace,  88,  179. 
Mange,  189. 
Mansion  House,  182. 
Mantillas,  1 17. 
Mantua,  Princess  of,  32. 
Marcello,  Countess  Adriana,  59. 
Marie  Antoinette,  151. 

Marq,  Catherine  de,  97. 

Mary  Tudor,  Queen,  1 1. 

Matsys,  Quintin,  11,  67. 

Mechlin,  9,  113,  147,  148,  151,  175. 

Media'val,  14,  15. 

]\Iedicis  ruti",  32. 

Merletto  a  maglia,  19. 

Merletti  a  Piombini,  xv. 

Mezzo  punto,  71,  72. 

Milan,  81. 

]\Iilancse  pillow  lace,  81. 

Mixed  lace,  71,  132. 

Moorish  taste,  19. 

Museum,  Hotel  Cluny,  179. 

—  of  the  Arsenal,  Venice,  67. 

—  British,  35. 

—  South  Kensington,  20,  34,  38,  42, 
45,  121,  125,  165. 

Mythical  animals,  19. 


N 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  172. 

Naples,  72,  87. 

National  Portrait  Gallery,  11. 

Needle  lace,  12,  13,  19,  23,  27,  71, 
102,  143,  165,  191. 

—  Point  lace,  1,2,  5,  6,  13,  20,  28, 
59,  72. 


Needle  Point,  31,  75,  91,  98,   132, 
136,  144,  182. 

Needlework,  x\-. 

Network,  6,  16,  187. 

New]K)rt  Pagncl,  176. 

Normandy,  1 17. 

Nottingham,  135,  183,  184,  187,  188, 

Nottinghamshire,  187 


O 

CEil  de  Perdrix,  148. 
Olney,  176. 
Oncagnia,  Signor,  35. 
Oriental,  19. 


Pagan,  Matthio,  35. 

Palliser,  Mrs.,  34,  56,  88,  98,  152. 

Parchment,  46,  72. 

—  lace,  176. 

—  patterns,  10,  60. 
Paris,  34,  106,  1 17. 
Passemens,  La  Revolte  des,  92. 
Pattern  books,  34. 

Peasant  lace,  82,  S7. 

Pelican,  20. 

Picots,  XV,  2,  5,  24,  42,  45,  71,  81, 

113- 
Pillow,  5,  60,  127,  135,  147,  175,  177, 
178. 

—  cases,  28,  38. 

—  Guipure,  68,  71,  72,  75,  82,  121, 
126. 

—  lace,  XV,  I,  5,  6,  9,  10,  13,  33,  64, 
67,  68,  71,  75,81,82,97,  102,  105, 
122,  126,  128,  139,  143,  147,  165, 
166,  167,  171,  172,  187,  188,  191, 
192,  193. 


200 


INDEX 


Pillow  lace  making,  117. 
Plaited  lace,  76. 
Point,  XV. 

—  a|)pliquc,  143,  144. 

—  coupe,  23. 

—  d'Alengon,    61,    91,     95,    98, 

lOI. 

—  d'Angleten-e,   xv,  62,    131,    132, 
143,  151,  165,  167. 

a  brides,  132. 

—  d'Argentan,  59,  102. 

—  de  Canaille,  71. 

—  d'Espagne,  38,  62. 

—  de  France,  97. 

—  de  Gaze,  140,  144,  147- 

—  de  Genes,  92. 
frise,  76. 

—  de  Neige,  45. 

—  de  Paris,  106,  114. 

—  de  Raguse,  92,  96. 

—  de  Venise,  38,  92. 
a  reseau,  41,  50. 

—  duchesse,  136. 

—  lace,  XV,  6,  9,  36,  37,  7 2,  19' >  I9-, 
I93-- 

--  net,  187. 

—  plat,  41,  49- 

appliciuc,  1 36. 

de  Venise,  41. 

Pompe,  Le,  67. 
Pope,  The,  56,  171. 
Pope's  Point,  38. 
Pot  Lace,  158.     '  , 
Potten  Kant,  158. 
Protestants,  i65. 
Punto  a  festone,  5,  36. 

—  a  gropiM),  64. 

—  a  maglia,  i,  19,  125. 


Punto  di  Burano,  41. 

—  di    Genoa,    23,    36,    75,    76, 
81. 

—  di  Milano,  xv,  81,  82,  192. 

—  di  Venezia,  37. 

—  in  Aria,  31,  32,  35,  36. 

—  tagliato,  23. 

foliami,  ^,7,  38,  4'- 

—  tirato,  16. 


Queen,  The,  188. 

—  (of  Italy),  56,  59,  61. 


R 

Ragusa,  92,  96. 

Raised  \'enetian  Point,  38,  41, 
42. 

Renaissance,  14,  15,  20,  45,  7ij  105, 
106,  121,  122,  140. 

Reseau,  xv,  2,  5,  6,  16,  55,  60,  61, 
72,  82,  97,  98,  loi,  102,  105,  106, 
113,  114,  122,  125,  126,  128,  131, 
135,  '36,  139.  140,  143,  144,  148, 
151,  152,  157,  167.  168,  175,  192, 

193- 
— ,  vrai,  131,  135,  143,  144- 
Reticella,  5,  15,  23,  24,  27,  28,  32, 

36,  171- 
Revolution,  The  French,  12,  55,  113, 

117,  118,  135,  152. 
Richard  the  Third,  27. 
Rococo,  14,  15,  16,  55. 
Rome,  87. 
Rope  stitch,  23. 
Rose,  151. 

Rose  point,  38,  41,  45,  46. 
Roses,  98. 


INDEX 


201 


Rosettes,  2,7,  45- 
Rousseau,  J.  J.,  12. 
Rubens,  75. 
Ruff,  Medicis,  32. 
Ruffs,  12,  33,  34,  161. 


S 

Samplers,  162,  172. 
Satin  stitch,  23. 
School  Inspector,  180. 
Seed  pearls,  33. 
Seguin,  M.,  68,  132. 
Sevigne,  Madame  de,  92. 
Shakespeare's  wife,  162. 
Sheeps'  trotters,  176. 
Sheets,  28,  87,  162. 
Shoes,  37. 
Shottery,  162. 
Silk,  16,  19,  20,  27,  35,  45- 
— ,  black,  88,  179. 

—  lace,  179- 
— ,  white,  88. 
Silver,  27,  33,  35. 
Sleeves,  37. 

South  Kensington,  68. 
Spain,  19,  37,  41,  49,  '7i,  ^9^- 
Spaniards,  63. 
Spanish  lace,  62. 

—  mantillas,  63,  1 17. 

—  Point,  13,  15,  41,  62. 
Spider  lace,  175. 
Stalks,  XV. 

St.  Catherine's  day,  171. 
St.  (]all,  189. 
St.  Germains,  95. 
St.  John  in  Waletta,  88. 
2    I) 


Stocking  loom,  187. 
Stony  Stratford,  176. 
St.  Peter  Louvain,  11. 
Sully,  1 1 3. 
Switzerland,  189. 


Table-cloths,  28,  87. 

—  covers,  38. 

—  linen,  33,  161. 
Tambour  stitch,  184. 
Tape,  XV,  38,  71,  72,  75. 

—  guipure,  76,  81 . 
Ties,  XV. 

Toile,  XV,  2,  5,  102,  127,   128,   131, 

140,  144,  152,  189,  190,  192. 
Torchon,  92,  179. 
Towels,  28,  87. 
Treadwin,  Mrs.,  166. 
Trolle,  175. 

—  Kant,  157. 
Trolly,  157,  167,  175- 

—  lace,  167. 

Trousse,  Mdlle.  de  la,  92. 
Truchet,  Rev.  Pere,  34. 


V 

Valenciennes,  10,  82,  102,  105,  117, 

118,  131,  157. 
— ,  Fausse,  io6. 
— ,  les  eternelles,  106. 
— ,  vraie,  105,  io5,  157. 
Vandyke,  36,  75. 
Vandykes,  32. 
Venetian  dominions,  96. 
—  lace,  41,  42,  50,  92,  182. 


202 


INDEX 


Venetian  point,  15,  Z7-,  3^,  4',  49) 
62,  72,97,  189,  191. 

—  Point,  flat,  41,  46. 

grounded,  41,  50,  55. 

raised,  41,  42,  59,  62. 

—  Republic,  24,  55. 

Venice,  12,  13,  19,  35,  36,  41,  49>  56, 
61,  67,  75,  92,  96,  121,  139,  191, 
192. 

Verbiest,  Fraulein,  125. 

Vertue,  33. 

Vetturino,  87. 

Vinciolo,  126. 

Virgin,  The,  158. 


W 

Waist  scarves,  37. 
Walker,  Mr.  Charles,  183. 
Warwickshire,  162. 
Weaving,  6,  20. 
Westminster  Abbey,  38,  162. 
Wheat,  Ears  of,  76,  88. 
White  lead,  144. 
Wood,  XV. 
Woolhampton,  188. 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  172. 

Y 
Ypres,  10,  102,  147,  157. 


PLYMOUTH 

WILLIAM    BRENDON    AND   SON 

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